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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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Shelf ...^^--l..' ^ " ' 

UNITED STATES OF AMEEICA. 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
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http://www.archive.org/details/magnetismclairvoOOcart 



Magnetism 

Clairvoyantly Discerned 



LESSONS FROM NATURE. 



Inherited Characteristics 
Explained. 

NEW LIGHT ON THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES 



WITH TREATISES ON 

Various Subjects of General Interest. 
- ' ^ Mrs. SARAH CARTWRIGHT. -^ 



DETROIT, MICH.: 

O. S. GULLEY, BORNMAN & CO., 12 — 18 LARNED STREET EAST. 
1884. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1884,, 
By MRS. SARAH CARTWRIGHT, 

in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Wasliinq-ton. 



PREFACE 



'"T^HE present epoch may be emphatically denom- 
JL inated one of investigation and progress ; hence, 
when truth is plainly presented to the candid 
mind, it seldom fails of a cordial welcome. In the 
illimitable field of the arts and sciences, more persist- 
ent researches and greater discoveries have been 
made than at any previous period. 

So many theories and different modes of treating 
disease are advanced, and such discordant ideas and 
sentiments enunciated, both by physicians and the 
general public who patronize them; so many mistakes 
and failures are constantly being made, that the con- 
fidence of the people in any one mode of treatment 
is nearly lost. There is too much science and too 
little sense in the present age, and too many doubtful 
modes of medical treatment. As theories increase, 
simple medicines are more and more disregarded and 



PREFACE. 



ignored. Belief in the alleged critical knowledge of 
anatomy, natural philosophy and what not, as essen- 
tial prerequisites of the art of healing, is rapidly losing 
ground. Those who know only how to restore the 
sick to health, are branded by some as empirics. 

This latter class forget that knowledge is power, 
and that all knowledge is not found in books. 
It would be well to understand all truth, but that 
is impossible. If we know a little and know that little 
well, it will be of more practical use than a pretended 
knowledge of many things expressed in unintelHgible 
language. 

There is no valid reason why the people at large 
should not understand the use of such simple remedies 
as nature requires, without all this mysterious dis- 
guise, and great pretensions of something higher 
than natural laws. Educate the people in that which 
concerns their own individual interest, and the general 
welfare of the community, by simplifying the art of 
medicine. How interesting and useful for children 
and youth, as well as others, to acquire some know- 
ledge of their own frame, the means of preserving 
their health, and the nature and treatment of disease, 



PREFA CE. 



by the use of those ingredients which grow in their 
gardens, fields or forests. It not only enlightens 
them in medical botany, but enables them to be their 
own physician, and likewise the ph^^sician of their 
poor neighbors. 

This must always prove a source of consolation, 
and how desirable to the benevolent mind, when it 
can be accomplished by agents which a bountiful 
Creator has scattered so richly around them, and 
placed within their reach. 

The collection and preservation of medicinal 
plants, roots, barks, etc., will not only offer an in- 
nocent, but also a useful, and perhaps profitable, em- 
ployment. It will not only contribute to the relief of 
suffering humanity, but prevent a vast amount of ex- 
pense, which may be saved to a family or an in- 
dividual by avoiding apothecaries' and doctors' bills 
and, what is better, poison. "The day has certainly 
arrived when medicine, like religion, should be placed 
before the face of the world, stripped of all its mys- 
teries, all its absurdities and professional intricacies, 
and appear in its genuine simplicity and rationality, 
open and undisguised before all who wish to examine 
and understand it." 



PREFACE. 



And I would ask who should hinder the accom- 
plishment of so desirable an object ? Who has not 
in the course of his life seen astonishing cures per- 
formed by the simple virtues of vegetables, even 
when administered by the humble man of roots and 
herbs ? When the whole force of minerals has failed, 
and now, when the -magnetism of animal organic 
genera is explained, and the true laws of life and 
health are understood, natural science must and will 
become the salvation of the people. 

Then why do we grovel in the dust, when the 
Almighty has put in our possession such ample mate- 
rials for relieving the sufferings of our fellow beings, 
and why are we permitted to render this service only 
with halters around our necks ? 

It is not easy in any case to contend with the cur- 
rent; it is much easier to float with the stream. 

If abuses in medicine^ religion and folitics^ and 
everything else were never opposed, they would be 
perpetuated, and all the evils of ignorance and error 
would be forever entailed upon the human race. 
What innovation, however important in itself, or 
beneficial in its consequences, ever claimed immedi- 
ate and general approbation ? No matter how good 



PREFACE. 



in itself, no matter what amount of certain good it 
was calculated to accomplish, it has been denounced 
as contrary to ancient usage, and incompatible with 
custom. We cannot see without regret, therefore, 
the constant opposition which everything new en- 
counters from some individuals, who can read only 
the past, and will not admit or understand the im- 
provements of the present. " The truth," says Locke, 
that great master of matter, mind, and human passion, 
*' scarcely ever yet carried it by vote anywhere at its 
first appearance." But truths like gold, is not the less 
so for being newly brought out of the mine. It is 
trial and examination that must give it price and not 
an antique fashion. Errors there are, no doubt, suffi- 
ciently numerous to require the exercise of much 
charity, and an equal candor, to excuse. Neither of 
these, however, is craved. 

This will appeal to all who have suffered as I have 
suffered through the practice of physicians. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Introduction, ....... 3- 

TRUE HEROISM. 
Heroism in Peace as Well as in War — Heroic Men and Women 
Needed — Intellectual Bravery may Withstand Tyranny, 
Superstition and Error, ..... 7 

A PERSONAL CHAPTER. 
A Brief Auto-Biographical Sketch — How the Author was First 
Led to Investigate the Nature of Disease, and Seek for 
and Apply Remedial Agents, . . . .18- 

INHERITED CHARACTERISTICS. 

An Exposition of Their Nature — The Vast Importance of the 

Subject, . . . . . . .21 

CLAIRVOYANCE. 

Its True Nature — It is Wholly Disconnected from Supersti- 
tious or Unnatural Characteristics — Its Inestimable Value 
— Conclusive Evidence of its Truth, . . .37 

THE MAGNETIC PRINCIPLE. 
Its Perfect Consonance with the Other Laws of Nature — Its 



Applicability to Our Wants, Especially 
Mitigating Disease, . . 

The Magnetism of Natural Life, 



in Curing and 



57 

6a 



MAGNETIC TREATMENT, 

Methods and Facts Concerning its Administration, . . 73' 

MISCELLANEOUS CHAPTERS. 

The Growth of Intelligence, . . . . .85' 

The Voice of Nature, (Poem) .... . . .91 

A Spirit Individuality, . . . . . .93 

Evil in Human Nature, . . ■' :■■ . . . IDS' 

" Evermore " (Poem)> . .... . . 109 

What Am I ? . . . . . . .113 

Death — How and Why — Spiritual Things Must be Spiritually 

Discerned, . ... . . . 117 

Abdallah's Message from Paradise (Poem), . . . 122 

Mourning for the Dead, . . . . . 125 

!'. How Far from Here to Heaven ?" (Poem,) . . . 127 

What is an Influence? . ' ' . ' . . . . 129 

Haunted Houses (Poem), . . . . . 133 

A .Series of Striking Proofs of Immortality, . . . 135> 



CONTENTS. 



FREEDOM. 
What is Freedom — Analyzation of Personal Freedom — Virtue, 

Patriotism and National Freedom, . , . 153 

eUPERSTITION. 
Its Too General Prevalence — Incidents, . . . 159 

HAPPINESS. 
How its Attainment may be Promoted, . . . 165 

^' He Was Odd" (Poem), . . . . .174 

THE INTEMPERATE. 

Why They Should be Humanely Treated . . . 169 

TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. 
The Utter Infamy of Treating Them with Brutality, , . 177 

PRACTICES INIMICAL TO HEALTH. 
How to Avoid Them, and How to Promote Health — Abuses of 
the Bath — Extravagancies in Dress Injurious — Fretfulness 
— Indigestion, and What Causes it — The Value of Fresh 
Air and Sunshine, ...... 183 

EXAMPLES OF TREATMENT. 
Experiences of the Modes and Methods — Col. McEllroy of the 
Rebel Army — Lincoln and Chandler — An Extreme Case of 
Chronic Diarrhoea — A Case of Spinal Meningitis — Scarlet 
Fever — Small Pox — Cholera Morbus — Diphtheria — Apo- 
plexy and Paralysis — Pleurisy — Scarlet Fever — Canker in 
the wStomach — Measles — Typhoid Fever — Sun Baths — Wet 
Pack Baths, . ' . . . . .191 

MEDICAL ADVICE. 
Deductions from Experimental Knowledge — Mild and Simple 

Remedies the Best, . . . . .321 

RECIPES. 
Simple and Soothing Drinks — Extended List of Safe Remedies 

for all Ordinary Ailments, ..... 333 
'* How to Wear the Soul's Garment" (Poem), . . . 351 

FOR WOMEN. 

Reflections Upon the Present Status of Woman in the Social 

and Civil Compact, ..... 355 

LIFE RENEWED. 
The Spirit's Resurrection — Review of Popular Errors, . . 361 

PRAYER. 
How it may be Answered — The Nature of True Prayer, . 367 

Poem, ........ 370 



INTRODUCTION. 



No class of thought, expressed orally or in writ- 
ing, is received with greater suspicion than that 
which deals with the modern sciences. We read the 
elaborately written books referring to many previous 
works, the writers seemingly afraid to let fly their 
own thoughts without the support of high-sounding 
names, and feeling constrained to apologize for their 
temerity. In my humble judgment, one person has 
the same right to reason from his own standpoint 
as that enjoyed by another. Let us seek knowl- 
edge for ourselves. Freedom of mind and soul is 
inwrought with the very law of progression. Let 
us then grow from within, according to all else in 
nature. Let us seek truth for ourselves, and it will 
enter into our spiritual nature as food for thought, 
and as the bread of eternal life. Poetical expressions, 
beautiful language, are as the flowers of bright sum- 
mer, fragrant, graceful and refining. They are inspira- 
tions from nature herself, that feed the emotional 
soul with beautiful dreams; with the music of love; 
the harmony of peace; with all that speaks of God. 



INTRODUCTION. 



A blessing and a prayer are both strikingly symbol- 
ized in a beautiful flower, for it is the crowning love- 
liness and glory of nature. But, in our lamentable 
state of ignorance and undeveloped truth, we have 
neither harmony nor peace; each and all of earth's 
inhabitants are actuated by the grosser elements and 
influences, and each and all are striving for self. 
While this undeveloped state of existence continues, 
the opening flowers of individual development, 
instead of being allowed to make glad the heart 
with their beauty and fragrance, are ruthlessly 
trampled in the dust, or are fated to wither under the 
upas-like influence of unjust and ungenerous criti- 
cism. The flowers and fruits — the offsprings of 
every heart — should be vouchsafed the benign influ- 
ence of that truth which is part and parcel of their 
own nature. We have a few privileged writers who 
give expression to their thoughts, and they are 
scattered over the land, being received by the crowd 
as crumbs from the rich man's table. Some of this 
fruit of human development is soul-inspiring, like the 
benign influences attending the magnetic affinities in 
nature, and some of it holds and sways conflicting 
elements which sow the seeds of discord and injuri- 
ous elements, attracting and distracting a large 
number away from the natural and pure. Every 
individuality has the sign-manual of the Creator, and 



INTRODUCTION. 



is fashioned according to God's immutable law, pro- 
ducing from its inherent magnetic nature its own 
flowers and its own fruit. The expression is the 
flowers, and man is both. What is most needed is 
the understanding of life's object, and the inclination 
to profit from the lessons which that understanding 
afibrds. There are sun-worshipers and worship- 
ers of undefined and undefinable deities, while the 
inspiration of man's identity fails to show within him- 
self the perfect image of his ideal. He is, neverthe- 
less, contented, being filled with self-sufficiency and 
egotism, with no room for anything higher. Could 
the soul of man look beyond the confines of material 
environments and behold, through the light of life's 
true inspiration, the living activities at work, creating 
individualities according to the elements of magnetic 
conditions, he would realize that this great world is 
one grand universal crucible, working in obedience 
to the simple law of cause and effect, and that as 
conditions change there is a correlative effect. To 
draw nearer to God in nature is to cultivate the 
spiritual attributes, and outgrow the dull sense of 
materialism. As the plant in the seed must grow 
into form in darkness and draw its first sign of 
development in the earth's gloomy and silent 
chambers, so man must develop in this material 
Avorld, and food must first be furnished for the higher 



INTRODUCTION. 



inspirations of the spirit and its development, and 
thus be encouraged while hidden under the earthy 
mold of a material^ form. The combination will in 
due time be made known by an expression beyond 
the earth's covering, bearing flowers and fruits to 
gladden and feed the longing souls of those w^ho still 
wander in the wilderness of doubt and slavish fear. 

I have no apology to offer, as I make no preten- 
sions to being a writer of books, but give to those 
who may desire it the benefit of my experience. 
As well expect a tree to ask pardon of its 
neighbors because its foliage and fruits were not 
equally beautiful and attractive; every individuality 
has a place and use, and talents of some order. So 
as much as I have, and as well as I know, I bring the 
flowers and fruits of my own individuality. 



HEROISM NEEDED IN PEACE AS 
WELL AS IN WAR. 



To quote from a standard authority, with a slight 
alteration of the text, I may say truly that peace hath 
its heroes no less renowned than those of war. We 
are not always, thanks be to Heaven, in need of 
warriors, for war sometimes furls its banner, and 
peace reigns supreme throughout the world; but 
there are strong indications that we shall always 
need that higher type of heroism that dare assail 
the barriers and bulwarks of old superstition and 
cold conventionality; which possesses that intellectual 
bravery which can attack error and falsehood 
wherever they may exist; which unhesitatingly 
directs the batteries of truth and reason against the 
fortresses of falsehood and superstition, even though 
their walls may have been cemented by the lapse of 
approving centuries, and are guarded by myriads of 
infatuated adherents. 

The world's sad history abundantly proves that 
errors, the most absurd in their nature and the most 
ruinous in their tendency, have glided down the 



HEROISM NEEDED IN PEACE 



Stream of time until the hoary mantle of age almost 
sanctified their enormities, merely because the great 
and crafty found it their vital interest to maintain 
them, and because no intellectual bravery existed in 
the ranks of the people to ferret out and rebuke the 
errors and abuses of the age in which they lived. 
How noble and how broad the field, therefore, in 
which cheated and outraged humanity calls upon 
her true votaries to labor. That man or woman is 
truly heroic who in defiance of those barriers, and 
in disregard of those conventionalities, dare step 
forward and proclaim and defend the truth at all 
hazards, and the greater the merit in proportion as 
the truth may be directly calculated to benefit 
mankind; its teachings conduce to the protection and 
aid of the feeble and the weak; to raise the fallen; 
to breathe hope into the heart of the desponding; to 
ennoble, elevate and bless humanity. 

It is comparatively easy to face the pomp and 
circumstance of " grim-visaged war," especially so, if 
the cause is a righteous one. In such case it may be 
said with entire truth that it is easy even to die in 
battle. The spirit is stirred to courageous madness 
l)y the rushing squadron, the roaring cannon and 
the clashing steel. All the fierce instincts of our 
nature are aroused, and the soldier seems even to 
seek for death. But there are no such adventitious 



AS WELL AS IN WAR. 



aids in the case of the moral hero ; he has to depend 
alone upon the consciousness of truth and right to 
impart strength to his nerves and his heart. There 
are countless examples of men who have met un- 
blanched the terrors of the ensanguined field, and 
yet afforded painful exhibitions of moral cov^ardice. 
.We are told of the Athenians, that they " persecuted 
their heroes to death, and afterwards repented in 
monuments and tears;" and we have constantly seen 
in our own experience that those who have labored 
with an eye single to the elevation of their race have 
been contemned, when the glamour of popular favor 
has steadily lighted the triumphant pathway of those 
whose lives have been less self-sacrificing, whose 
aims have been less lofty. 

The higher type of character, although developed 
in a measure approximating perfection, alas! too 
rarely, even in our own country is, I think, more 
frequently met here than in other lands, especially 
in those where the fair germ of liberty is withered 
by the pestiferous breath of tyranny. In the latter, 
there may be freedom of thought and exceptionally 
freedom of conscience, as well as, at least, in some of 
them, freedom of speech. But here there is superadded 
to these the favorable occasion for men and women 
of intellect, soul, public spirit and strongly marked 
individuality to address themselves to the multitudin- 



HEROISM NEEDED IN PEACE 



ous questions naturally evolved through the influence 
of our free institutions, thereby developing qualities 
that, but for the workings of those free institutions 
and the aspect of those questions, would have 
remained dormant. Reformers have not been with- 
out their appreciative followers, but the number of 
these have been so small, comparatively speaking, 
as to deter all from delving in the stubborn soil save 
those impelled by the loftiest purposes and instincts 
and the worthiest motives that can inspire the soul 
of man. 

The moral is obvious. Let us go forth and pro- 
claim the truth, and thus prove our appreciation of 
the God-given privilege afforded us through the 
workings of our popular institutions and by the full 
glare of the light of reason, which has led to the 
development of science and truth. Heaven speed the 
day when the people will rend the gyves of ignorance 
and superstition ; when they shall no longer be " linked 
like a statue" to the dead past. Then, when we shall 
be asked: "Watchman, what of the night?" we can 
exultingly respond: Lo, all is well ; the glad star of 
truth has mounted above the horizon, never more to 
set, and falsehood and error have sunk never to rise 
again. 



AS WELL AS LN WAR 



Through night to light; and though to mortal eyes 

Creation's face a pall of horror wear, 
Good cheer, good cheer! the gloom of midnight flies; 

Then shall a sunrise follow mild'and fair. 

Through storm to calm; and though his thunder-car 
The rumbling tempest drive through earth and sky. 

Good cheer, good cheer! the elemental Avar 
Tells that a blessed healing hour is nigh. 

Through frost to spring; and though the biting blasts 

Of Eurus stiffen Nature's juicy veins. 
Good cheer, good cheer! when winter's wrath is past, 

Soft murmuring spring breathes sweetly o'er the plains. 

Through strife to peace; and though, with bristling front, 
A thousand frightful deaths encompass thee, 

Good cheer, good cheer! brave thou the battle's brunt, 
1^'or the peace-march and song of victory. 

Through toil to sleep; and though the sultry noon 
With heavy drooping wing oppress thee now, 

Good cheer, good cheer! the cool of evening soon 
Shall lull to sweet repose thy weary brow. 

Through cross to crown; and though the spirit's life 

Trials untold assail with giant strength. 
Good cheer, good cheer! soon ends the bitter strife, 

And thou shalt reign in peace with Christ at length 

Through woe to joy; and though at morn thou weep, 
And still the midnight find thee weeping still. 

Good cheer, good cheer! the shepherd loves his sheep; 
Resign thee to the watchful Father's will. 

Through Death to Life; and through this vale of tears. 

And through this thistle-field of life ascend 
To the great supper in that world whose years 

Of bliss unfading, cloudless, know no end. 

KOSBARTEN, 1758. 



A PERSONAL CHAPTER. 



My descent is Anglo-German on both sides of the 
family, but as my grandfather on my father's side 
was a soldier of the Revolution, and my grand- 
mother a cousin of Commodore Perry of Lake Erie 
fame, 1 may safely claim to be an American. My 
maternal grandmother was German, and my grand 
father was of English descent, born near Brantford, 
in Canada. He was an elder of the Baptist Churchy 
and preached the gospel without money and without 
price for over forty years. He believed that God 
had called him to preach a free gospel, which call he 
heeded, and led a sincere Christian life according to 
his convictions. 

My parents were married early in life, and came 
to Michigan in 1823, and in 1828 I was born. My 
parents were engaged in peaceful industries, over- 
coming the obstacles in their path by persevering 
effort, and hewing their simple home out of the 
almost unbroken forest. There was a kindly atmos- 
phere of neighborly feeling among the early pioneers. 



14 A PERSONAL CHAPTER. 

each lending a helping hand when needed, and each 
contributing to the happiness and welfare of all. 

My early life was spent in the school of nature, a 
simple, unartificial life. I felt myself to be in sym- 
pathy with the beautiful world around me. I did 
not wholly escape the influence of the hard theology 
of those days, for I was taught that God exercised a 
jealous supervision of mankind, and a feeling of 
resistance was developed in my mind against what 
appeared to me to be an unfair advantage. The 
country was full of miasma and gaseous effluvia 
which aided in engendering terrific thunder storms. 
I listened to the roar of the thunder with awe and 
adoration, and watched, in the flashing lightning, the 
expressions of His mighty power. It often happened 
that some giant tree or a barn stored with grain 
would be struck by it and be consumed to ashes, and 
my little soul would resent that want of magnanimity 
in a Being so mighty when dealing with such defense- 
less creatures as we. 

The impressions from nature molded my organi- 
zation into sympathy with the grandeur and beauty 
everywhere displayed. I saw God everywhere. In 
a glowing sunset I beheld His smiling face; in a 
storm, His power; in a flower, His love; in darkness, 
the opportunity for exercising the trusting confidence 
He exacted; and in the morning light, the day-spring 



A PERSONAL CHAPTER. 15 

of hope in His love. This has been the religion of 
my life — infinite trust and love for the Being who 
made the world and gave to each thing in it an 
appropriate place. 

All that is, is of Him, and everything which is, 
is right. When we are able fully to understand the 
meaning of life, the soul will rejoice that God rules all 
and is in all, the good and the evil, the darkness and 
light alike. 

When I was twenty-three years old I had a long 
and serious illness. I was married and the mother 
of four children. Our home was in St. Clair. From 
the effects of calomel I became a chronic invalid. My 
nervous system was so enfeebled that I could not 
control my emotions, but gave way to nervous hyste- 
ria on slight occasions. For five years I could not 
mount a step or lift my feet over the slightest eleva- 
tion, and my husband built a house without a 
single step or even a door-sill in it, so that I could 
move about without meeting any obstruction. All 
known remedies failed to restore my strength, and I 
had resigned myself to my condition. My life was 
tranquil and quiet and my soul at peace with God 
and man. I found occupation for my mind and heart 
in the love and care of my children and family. 

A new and strange element suddenly invaded my 
life at this period. One evening, while sitting quietly 



I 



i6 A PERSONAL CHAPTER. 

reading by a table, my right hand became slightly 
benumbed, a contraction of the muscles took place, 
and it was slowly moved toward a slate and pencil 
lying on the table; my fingers grasped the pencil 
and I wrote, with no knowledge of what I was writ- 
ing. The writing looked like mine, but the words 
conveyed but little meaning to me* It was a medi- 
cal prescription, giving the botanical names of vari- 
ous plants. I felt very little surprise, but wondered 
in a passive way what the names meant, when my 
hand seized the pencil and began to draw rapidly 
and perfectly leaves, flowers, and roots of plants, 
affixing the common name to each, and adding the 
advice to get and take them. I now know that the 
prescription was an antidote to calomel and a remedy 
for nervous debility. 

Various things were written rapidly: names of 
persons whom I knew and names of many whom I 
did not know. A long word, or no word was 
written — an unintelligible mixture of all the letters 
of the alphabet. I turned the slate over, saying, 
" write that again," and it was immediate^ repro- 
duced on the slate, letter for letter. After com- 
paring them I rubbed out all the writing with the 
exception of one of the long words and laid the slate 
away. 

The next day my hand became rigid and partially 



A PERSONAL CHAPTER. 17 

benumbed, but strangely enough, I did not think of the 
experiences of the previous day, but got some hot 
water and bathed it and rubbed it vigorously without 
affecting it in the least. 1 was troubled, fearing some 
new malady had come to afflict me. After exhaust- 
ing all the remedies I could think of, I suddenly 
remembered the slate and that there were similar 
sensations in my hand the previous day, only less 
intense. I got the slate, and mindful of the word on 
it, presented the other side and asked that the word 
be again written. The great number of letters and 
their fantastic and unmeaning arrangement would 
make this a difficult feat, but it was done immediately, 
as I found on comparing the word written. A 
request was added that I should sit in a quiet and 
darkened room. Out of curiosity I compHed, and 
received almost immediately on entering the room an 
electric shock from my head to my feet, which 
vibrated through every nerve in my body. This 
experience was repeated each day for several days, 
no more slate writing appearing, and then I made a 
discovery. I found I could go up and down the steps 
from the piazza without a sign of the weakness from 
which I had suffered so long. My nervousness had 
disappeared, and I was restored to health. There 
was no room for doubt. I kne2v that there was out- 
side of myself an intelligence which had directed and 



A PERSONAL CHAPTER. 



performed the cure, but fearing ridicule and the 
criticism of the world, I determined to keep the 
knowledge within my own breast. But I v^^as not 
permitted to decide that matter. I went one day to 
a hall where the ladies met to sew for the soldiers, 
for those experiences began shortly before the com- 
mencement of the war of the rebellion. While sitting 

at a table, busily at work, a soldier, Lieutenant , 

came into the room, shaking with an ague chill. A 
lady sitting near me called to him that she could tell 
him of a cure, and he came to her at once and took 
a seat nearly opposite me. In a moment I had the 
chill and he was free from it. It lasted some twenty 
minutes and was followed by a fever. Previous to 
this the gentleman had suffered from chills for several 
weeks, but he never had another. 

Every one present was surprised, no one more so 
than myself. I denied being able to give any expla- 
nation of the phenomena and went home firmly 
determined to be free from this influence or magnet- 
ism, or whatever it might be, and entered on a 
mental warfare against this unknown power. I did 
not succeed in banishing it, but was commanded and 
compelled by an indescribable force to visit a lady 
who was supposed to be suffering from cancer on her 
face. I resisted until I could resist no longer and 
then, still protesting, I went, explained her case, pre- 



A PERSONAL CHAPTER. 19 

scribed for her, and treated her face magnetically with 
my hands. My first experience of that kind of treat- 
ment; and, although I did not see her again, she was 
actually cured in three weeks. Of course she did 
not have cancer. I concealed the source of my 
knowledge and actions and said to myself, if she gets 
well it is something beside myself or my fancies ; if 
she does not, I am certainly insane. 

Clairvoyance was established the Sunday that 
Fort Sumter was attacked and Major Anderson was 
forced to march out of the burning fort. I became 
aware of a dual condition. I saw and felt my physi- 
cal body, with all its powers, at the same time that 
my intelligent inner-self was transported to Charles- 
ton. I was looking at Fort Sumter from a hill near 
the town. I saw the movements of the gun boats, 
saw Fort Moultrie and the city, and comprehended 
the struggle which was going on. I saw the shells 
burst inside the fort and the consequences of the fire 
caused by the explosions. When the vision passed, 
I felt a conviction that I had seen a real action — the 
attacks of the Confederates on the doomed fort. The 
telegraphic news of the next day confirmed my 
strangely gotten information, and henceforth my 
clairvoyant eyes were open, and I began to study 
life from the most intelHgent point of observation, — 
the spiritual side. 



20 A PERSONAL CHAPTER. 

My will had no power over the new faculty of 
sight, and after some further experience I held a 
council of peace with the no longer invisible beings 
who were the agents in developing those powers, 
and an agreement was formally entered into by both 
parties. I promised on my part to renounce my 
opposition to their influence and to obey their behests 
as far as I was able, while they in turn agreed to 
guide me into truth and protect me as far as possible 
from the errors and ills of life. After twenty-three 
years of experience, I can truly say that their part 
of the compact has been faithfully performed, and I 
am grateful to them for the good I have received, 
and the aid and comfort I have been able to bring to 
hundreds of suffering souls and bodies. 

From the foregoing the reader learns that there 
was nothing erratic in my parentage, and that my 
surroundings and simplicity of life were not calcu- 
lated to develop the abnormal in character. Also, 
that this influence came to me unsought, and wa& 
accepted only when my reason was convinced that 
its errand was beneficent and its power such that 
resistance was useless. It has never counseled me to 
a mean or ungenerous action, but striven constantly 
to develop all the better instincts of m}^ nature. 



INHERITED CHARACTERISTICS. 



The explanation of the apparent m3^steries of 
nature, through the progress of intelligent observa- 
tion and reason, reveals to us the fact that we are 
the victims of many strange mistakes and misjudg- 
ments, the sad results of which are too often 
accredited to the will of God, instead of to our 
ignorance of the laws which he has ordained for our 
well being. In no department of life is ignorance 
more dense and its results more to be deplored than 
in the reproduction of the species. Unfortunate 
beings come into existence with distorted brains, 
beset by longings for unattainable or unlawful 
pleasures or possessions, transmitted by. parents 
whose ignorance of nature's unalterable laws has 
conferred upon their offspring the weaknesses instead 
of the strength of their own characters. The 
children of men and women of superior intellectual 
■attainments usually make but a sorry showing in the 
world. Physical weakness or mental mediocrity are 
too frequently their inheritance. From whence does 



INIIERI TED CHA RA C TERIS TICS. 



it come % What laws are transgressed when an 
intelligent and refined parentage brings forth an 
offspring addicted to coarse pleasures and vices? 
Such cases are common in the acquaintance of every 
one, and they involve the action of the law of heredity 
in the greatest confusion. Let us see if any satis- 
factory explanation is possible through the revealing 
power of Clairvoyance. 

Men who are ambitious in their various pursuits 
exhaust from day to day their brain vitality. The 
whole force of the spiritual nature is projected into 
business life, and all the faculties of the soul aroused to 
contend against opposition and to watch for favorable 
opportunities to advance material interests. This is 
not the life of one da}^, but of all da3's; it is the 
prevailing character of their lives. The treasury of 
spiritual power is empty; all its gold is poured 
out into the world. There is nothing left for their 
children to inherit but the dross of life, the animal 
instincts and passions. For it must be borne in mind 
that the father's influence on offspring is by one 
direct transmission. He does not hold the power of 
modifying it by nobler aspirations and higher spiritual 
living and thinking, as does the mother. The 
moment conception takes place his direct work on 
the child is finished, and if it is the product of an 
exhausted spiritual brain power and an animal nature. 



INHERITED CHARACTERISTICS. 23 



Stimulated perhaps by rich food and wine, he has 
given his share of an evil inheritance to his child. 

The wife of the prosperous and ambitious man is 
too likely to be absorbed by the cares and duties and 
pleasures of society to feel any desire for the duties 
or delights of maternity. Her spiritual power is 
frittered away on fashion and display and all the 
excitements of material life, and the children born of 
such an union are not the product of the intellectual 
and refined spirit essence of their life's strongest and 
best forces. Love is not interwoven with their 
growth, nor any desire that they shall be endowed 
with the higher and nobler qualities of their own 
natures. The beauty and grace of what they most 
admire is not instilled into the new beings. The 
soul's deep desire is not in intelligent sympathy with 
the freshly-beginning life, yearning to bring to them 
every good and glorious endowment. While the 
father goes his way, careless and indifferent, the 
angr}^, disappointed and humiHated mother conceals 
her situation as if it were a crime, and ignores her 
offspring as if she had no duties, as she has no 
pleasure in them. 

The mother's sympathies act through her emo- 
tional nature directly on the child from the first 
moment of conception until independent organization 
is elTected. This takes place when motion is felt. 



24 INHERITED CHARACTERISTICS. 

Previous to quickening, the child has been a passive 
recipient of spiritual impressions from the emotional 
nature of the mother, being thus far incapable of 
receiving any other, because the spiritual body or 
nucleus of brain and nerve forces are the first to be 
established. Every emotion felt b}^ the mother is 
transmitted to the corresponding organ of the child's 
brain. Love and hatred, joy and sorrow, hope and 
fear, as they excite the mother, send vibratory waves 
of impression to the child. It is a sensitive, highly- 
spirituaHzed portion of herself, sustained and nour- 
ished from the most refined elements of her being. 
It is this demand on her spiritual nature through the 
magnetic nerve currents that renders her so sensitive 
to exciting causes during this period. A word, a 
look, will wound her, a trifling thing annoy and irri- 
tate, and a slight failure in her plans cause the most 
poignant disappointment. Her moods are photo- 
graphed on the brain of the child in nature's enduring 
colors, and day by day, by her interior life, all 
unconsciously, she shapes and molds the plastic clay 
to a vessel of spiritual honor, or dishonor, as these 
vibratory waves of feeling and desire arise from 
noble or ignoble centers of influence in herself 
Latent instincts inherited from her mother, dormant 
until maternity arouses them, suddenly develop, 
adding, it may be, new elements of discord, fretful 



INHERITED CHARACTERISTICS. 25 

longings for some unattainable object of desire, 
unreasoning passion which will brook no denial; 
brooding melanchoi}^, even when there is no especial 
repugnance to child-bearing; start into active life to 
the surprise and dismay of friends; and it is some- 
times the case that those late developments of 
characteristic traits become permanent sources of 
weakness in character. The latent tenderness, sym- 
pathies and charities of the mother's soul may, too, 
receive from the maternal development a quickening 
influence which brings them to a speedy and beautiful 
blossoming in an active desire to bless all the world 
around her, and the growing soul within the mother's 
organism takes on the discordant or harmonious 
influence. As the nerve vibrates from thought to 
feeling in the mother, the eftect produced on the child 
is a shock of pleasure or pain. Fear, disappoint- 
ment, sudden fright, are often causes of idiocy, the 
shock partially paralyzing the sensitive brain. 

Thus, through nature's inexorable law the mother, 
ignorantly, indifferently, unconsciously endows her 
offspring from the spiritual resources of her own 
nature, making it noble or ignoble by the quality of 
her secret, interior, spiritual life. What mental ener- 
gies could be inspired by the mother-soul if filled 
with a fountain of pure, unselfish love for the helpless 
life just organized. The heart would sing for delight 



26 INHERITED CHARACTERISTICS. 

in it, the hands would labor for love of it, the mind 
would be active with plans for its happiness and 
highest well-being. Aware of the wonderful work 
in which she was engaged, a worker together with 
God in perfecting a new creation, she would give 
herself up to the reception of only noble impressions. 
She would inspire herself with music; she would 
study the records of genius and of art, and labor to 
instil into the life principle an appreciation and love 
for all the higher attributes of the human soul. Her 
child would feed on all the virtues, and the record of 
her own purity and goodness and truth and nobility 
would be indelibly registered in its nature. She 
would bring forth one of heaven's choicest blessings, 
a noble child, harmoniously organized, at peace with 
every law of its nature, a kingdom of Heaven reflect- 
ing its happiness on every creature within its circle 
of influence. 

There is another kind of inherited mentality 
which will bring forth far different fruit. In the 
mind of the mother instead of love there is hatred, 
instead of pleasure in the ofHces of maternity there 
are selfish repinings and irritation over the responsi- 
bilities the new life will bring. A desire to destroy 
the unconscious being enters the heart of the mother, 
thus sending murderous currents of influence to the 
brain, and sowing the seeds of cruelty. A selfish 



INERITED CHARACTERISTICS. 27 

indisposition to share with the child the pleasures of 
life, grudging it a place in the home and the money 
and ease which must be sacrificed for it, reproduces 
itself in greed, hardness of heart and avarice. The 
mother's moods alternate from depression, which is 
almost despair, to an unnatural excitement of angry 
irritation, thus creating a restless dissatisfied disposi- 
tion which will lead the child into excesses, seeking 
something to gratify the organic craving. It is from 
such mental conditions that thieves, liars, drunkards 
and murderers are brought forth, for all the crimes 
and misery of the world are born into it, and if we 
would stay the current of evil we must begin with 
the very earliest stages of prenatal conditions. 

How little thought is bestowed on these poor 
infortunates, thrust into existence in the storms of 
human passion, their little barks wrecked on the 
inhospitable shores of life, themselves unwelcome 
strangers among savages. The parents who have 
created a criminal take no shame to themselves for 
the act, but claim the world's sympathy for a misfor- 
tune. They have registered their own folly and 
w^eakness in an immortal soul, and mourn because 
the result is moral disorder and degradation. The 
eternal law is here as everywhere: "Ye cannot 
gather grapes off thorns, nor figs off thistles." The 
seed sown in secret develops openly, and while the 



28 INHERITED CHARACTERISTICS. 

guilty cause goes unsuspected and unpunished, the 
unfortunate being preordained to evil goes down in 
the struggle of life, his name becomes a word of 
reproach, and he sinks from sight under the burden 
of his wretched inheritance. 

Unhappy conditions of home life, which generate 
irritating and vicious magnetisms, are prolific causes 
of the early development of the vicious germs of 
character. The sensitive brain of the child feeds 
upon it, and the latent evil is aroused, which under 
more favorable influences might have lain dormant 
until the judgment and will were strong enough to 
struggle with and overcome it. 

Happy the parents who discover in their child 
some beautiful gift, some special talent or excellence; 
how they exult in it, gratified at the lustre which it 
reflects upon themselves; glad to feel that in some 
way they have contributed to its creation, and ready 
to concede to it the right of a true inheritance. The 
good is of themselves, the evil alone belongs to the 
child. It is time that parents began to judge them- 
selves in their children, taking shame for the evil 
which they have entailed upon them, and striving in 
ail humility to teach them the laws of nature, that the 
evil entailed may go no farther, and that its action 
may be arrested and neutralized as much as possible 
in each individual case. In order to do this, parents 



INHEFITED CHARACTERISTICS. 29 

must forsake some of the world's high places, and so 
lessen its demands on them; they must study nature's 
laws and work consistently with them. Regret or 
remorse will avail nothing; only patient, tireless 
endeavor, to shield their unfortunate children from 
temptation, to strengthen the weak wills, and draw 
closer the bonds of filial love and confidence. 

Artful vice has no power to allure a perfect child. 
It is only when an inward response is felt to the call 
that danger exists. While the brutality of man and 
the ignorance of woman bring into the world the 
the inharmonious offspring of their weakness and 
vices, society opens the doors of numerous schools to 
aid in their vicious development. Prisons and asy- 
lums multiply, taxes increase, and drunkenness and 
depravity prevail to an alarming extent. Could 
children be well born, evil would gradually cease 
from the world and it will never cease until the laws 
of the organization of human life are understood and 
obej^ed. How unwise the judgment that condemns 
the child for the transgression of the parent, blind to 
the fact that the individual has no responsibility 
whatever in his own creation and endowment, but is 
forced to live out, as best he can, the life implanted 
within his organism by his parents. There is no 
appeal from this law. Man is a cosmos, a world. 
Every order of life is potentially present in his organ- 



30 INHERITED CHARACTERISTICS. 

ism. Every force in the universe has its correspond- 
ing centre of influence within his w^ondrous mechan- 
ism. He is a laboratory v^^here all the changes of 
chemical science are wrought out, and where the 
impalpable forces of magnetic, electric and galvanic 
life have then* store houses, — strongholds of power. 
The beast of the field is represented with all his 
instincts and passions, and the highest God-head has 
a potential presence in man. The manner in which 
this world shall be organized depends on the parents. 
The animal and spiritual should be in just proportion 
and harmony, but parental ignorance and indifference 
may so develop the animal that the spiritual nature is 
too weak to govern and restrain it, and society is 
afflicted with a monster of coarse appetites and pas- 
sions, which seeks its legitimate food and nourish- 
ment in sensuality and criminal excesses. The same 
parental ignorance may develop the spiritual in such 
excess of the animal nature that it cannot be sus- 
tained and nourished by it, and the result is decay 
and early death. By a law which runs throughout 
nature, the hfe principal of an organism will seek its 
own appropriate nourishment wherever it is to be 
found, accepting that which fills its need, and reject- 
ing what is noxious or opposed to its growth. 

If the food is denied, the desire for it remains to 
punish the victim with unsatisfied longings. The 



INHERITED CHARACTERISTICS. 31 

artist or poet soul is fed with the beauty and har- 
mony of nature. The world with its shadows and 
sunshine, its music and love, answers to the longing 
within and inspires the desire to embody it in song, 
or portray its charms in colors. Banished to the 
loneliness and barrenness of a desert the soul would 
hunger for its appropriate nourishment and sufier 
and long for what imagination would produce in 
dreams. The beautiful alone could answer to its 
needs ; by the law of elective affinity everything else 
would be rejected as not available for its sustenance. 
The drunkard, who is such from pre-natal in- 
fluences — and there are few others — if shut in an 
asylum, bears about with him his inheritance of 
desire, from which no absence from the stimulant 
can free him. All the better instincts of his nature 
combat this desire, and may enable him to resist 
its demands, but it is practically indestructible. His 
life is a warfare or a defeat. 

In view of these facts the reluctant mother may 
justify infanticide on the ground that it were better 
not to bring beings into the world subject to such in- 
heritances, but the argument is an idle one. Clair- 
voyance reveals the fact that from the moment of 
conception a new life begins with its train of infinite 
consequences. It must be perfected somewhere, if 
not in the earth world then in the spirit world. 



32 INHERITED CHARACTERISTICS. 

The law of its development is inexorable, and what- 
ever impulse it has received from its parentage will act 
on its life in all worlds for evil or for good, until 
through the varied experiences of joy and sorrow it 
comes into complete harmony within itself, — where 
all the faculties, passions and emotions of the soul, 
has each its due place and proportion and the process 
of salvation completed, the infant germ becomes 
a full grown spirit. 

When quickening takes place, the child frees itself 
from its dependent, passive, spiritual relations to the 
mother, and the direct currents ol influence from her 
brain to the brain of the child ceases. Unconscious 
will-power asserts itself with a sudden impulse, and 
the spiritual nature begins to shape and mould the 
material. The demand on the spiritual nature of the 
mother ceases; her work on the spiritual nature oi 
her child, whether for good or ill, is finished. What 
the child shall be in its spiritual and moral economy 
is decreed and nature sets to work to mold the 
body, still by the mother's influence, to grace or 
clumsiness, to coarseness or fineness, to beauty or 
ugliness, very much as she may elect. The refined, 
the delicate, the orderly in her life, her home, her 
surroundings react on the child physically. If her 
food is retined, the fibre of the child's body will be 
of a finer qualit}' than if her food be coarse. If her 



INHERITED CHARACTERISTICS. 33. 

habits are healthful and pure, she molds the body 
to healthy and pure activities. The demand on her 
spiritual forces ceases in a large degree, and her 
nervous irritation and unrest generally subsides. 
She accepts the inevitable and generally subsides 
into a quiet animal existence, the draft on her ma- 
terial nature creating no special disturbance in a 
healthy woman. If she permits herself to become 
indolent, inert, she endows her offspring with a gross 
and heavy body devoid of active graces. The ma- 
terial and spiritual natures of the child act and react 
on each other, and if the spirit be fine and the body 
coarse, or the body fine and the spirit coarse, an in- 
harmonious organization is produced which may 
eventuate in great spiritual or physical weakness and 
suffering. 

The law of labor is a beneficent one. Heavy 
labor for the mother, especially of an anxious, taxing 
kind, is injurious to the best development of the child, 
but perfect idleness is equally so. Light duties, 
thoroughly and cheerfully performed, are better for 
mind and body of both mother and child than any 
amount of exercise taken for the explicit purpose of 
exercise. For this reason, the most perfect specimens 
of manhood and womanhood do not develop from 
the extremes of society. The children of the idle 
and luxurious class are enfeebled bv indifference and 



34 INHERITED CHARACTERISTICS. 

satiety both in soul and body, and those from the 
other extreme are the victimv*? of want and suffering 
which dwarfs and stultifies them. The comfortable 
middle class, not agitated by the passions which 
war in the great world, and free from the anxieties 
and vices of poverty, is the root from which the 
world's great men and women are produced. Could 
the young be pure in soul and body when the res- 
ponsiblities of parentage come to them, their souls in 
sympathy with the noble things of life — with an un- 
derstanding of the laws of inheritance conveyed 
through the will and the emotions and a deep sense 
of their obligations to the coming life, it might be 
made an incalculable blessing instead of what it too 
often is, a terrible curse. Love begets love, hatred 
and indifference engender their kind. The wise 
and loving parents will be doubly blest in their off- 
spring, in the joy of their infancy and youth, and in 
the loving care and attendance which their age will 
receive at their hands. Duty is a poor substitute for 
love, and the parental heart is quick to recognize the 
difference. Careless and indifferent children were 
born so, and the mother who looks into her own 
heart and remembers the soul experiences of preg- 
nancy will find causes which will close her mouth 
from reproaches. '^ Whatsoever a man soweth that 
shall he also reap." 



INHERITED CHARACTERISTICS. 35 



We have a false idea of the duties of children. 
The fact is children owe no duties to parents except 
those imposed by the bond of a common humanity. 
The obligation is wholly on the other side. The 
parents call a conscious being into life, endow it 
with passions, instincts, intelligence and emotion, 
and are solely responsible for the creature of their 
passions and will. They have created what they 
would, and they owe it to the child that they shall 
create it after a noble pattern. Being born, it should 
be the chief object of parental soHcitude. The par- 
ent has no right to demand anything from a child on 
the score of duty. It is the duty of parents to feed, 
clothe, nourish, protect and love their offspring, 
thereby developing in them gratitude and love which 
will prompt to a return of kindly offices. But they 
can not lay claim to the services of their children 
with any plea of justice, and the only respect and 
honor which they are in any position to exact is that 
which they earn by a faithful discharge of duty. 
Love is the ruling power of magnetic attraction, and 
true love begets other qualities Vv^hich attract the 
soul's deepest emotional sense of love and gratitude, 
which flows freely as the river of life, refreshing and 
beautifying the world. 



36 INHERITED CHARACTERISTICS. 

"For every tear by pity shed 

Upon a fellow sufferer's head, 

O ! be a crown of glory given ; 

Such crown as seraphs wear in Heaven." 

"For all who toil at honest fame, 
A proud, a pure, a deathless name; 
For all who love, who loving bless, 
Be life one long, kind, close caress — 
Be life all love, all happiness." 



CLAIRVOYANCE. 



An Exposition of its Nature — Its Value 
TO THE World. 



Clairvoyance is regarded by many as an inexplica- 
ble mystery, but this is far from being correct. One 
of the most eminent of the world's poets, in speaking 
of superstition, says: 

" Thou taintest all thou look'st upon! " 

The utterance is strikingly applicable to the pres- 
ent subject. Superstition has looked upon and 
tainted— at least to its own sense — so important a 
matter as Clairvoyance. Sublime from its very 
nature, it has treated it with scoffing. Plain and 
simple, it has invested it with undefinable mystery. 
There is no real mystery connected with it, except 
as our understanding of the laws of our being ma}^ 
be enshrouded by mental mists. It is high time 
these mists were dissipated by the sunlight of truth. 
The unsubstantial dreams of the past, even in our 
own Bible history, are very rapidly losing their mys- 
tery. There is not so much credence given them as 



38 CLAIR VO VANCE. 



that awarded even to the legends handed down from 
generation to generation. Supernaturalism is being 
rapidly supplanted by the natural, as the mind 
becomes educated in the natural science of the soul, 
or, in other words, in the spiritual attribute of man- 
kind. There is within the senses, without any 
prompting, save that of the mevitable law of neces- 
sity, an intuitive knowledge that there is another 
state of existence. Even the untutored savage feels 
and knows this. He feels and knows that there is 
within himself something that will live beyond what 
is called death. The great truth thus taught by the 
greatest of all teachers, nature herself, goes very far 
toward divesting the subject of m3^stery . Since the law 
of electricity has been evolved and simplified, is it 
regarded as mysterious when the electric flash is 
instantaneously transmitted across vast continents and 
through mighty oceans? So far from this, it is 
known even by the ignorant as something of con- 
stant occurrence. 

Although the idea of the savage is a crude one, 
there is perfect truth in his impression. To the clair- 
voyant the hnfression is absorbed in the vision. As 
the untaught natural sense is in a manner intelligent, 
so the soul is intelligent, only its intelligence belongs 
to a higher scale. It sees, from its intelligent per- 
ceptions, what is hidden from the material sight. It 



CLAIRVOYANCE. 



39 



is hardly necessary to describe the material eye. Its 
range and scope depend upon the support of a 
healthy physical organism for its clearness of vision 
while the mental development or discipline, accord- 
ing to its order, receives the vision and judges of its 
merit. The natural eye is merely a window for the 
inner life; without this window darkness would pre- 
vail, for it is by the reflection of light that all things 
are made visible upon the retina of the natural eye. 
The blind receive their education through other 
channels, in part by feeling and sound, but also 
through the more potent aid of the mental or spirit- 
ual organization. A clairvoyant sight is that in 
which the vision is made directly to the perception 
without the intervention of any of the physical 
senses. There is no mental capacity for compre- 
hending: the distance. At first a small and detached 
object becomes visible. If I were to see and describe 
a house in Germany, I would be likely to begin to 
see the front door; then a wider view would rapidly 
be unfolded, until the entire structure would be 
clearly discernible. I w^ould determine which door 
was entered most frequently by the magnetism of the 
many going thereby. I would look in the front 
door, see the hall or room, as the case might be, look 
at the floor, walls, furniture and other accessories; 
see who enter the room, what they look like, deter- 



40 CLA IRVO VANCE. 



mine their character and understand the nature of 
their infirmities, in case they were subject to any. I 
would also be able to see whether they owned the 
house; if not, by whom it was owned, where they 
lived, and the nature of their business; not only all 
this, but whether the property was paid for, how they 
got it, and probably many other details. Once get- 
ting en rapport with the mind, or place, my sight fol- 
lows the visible and the invisible with the same ease. 
It is simply the magnetism of the mind acting as a 
conductor, and reaching as a matter of course beyond 
the limited vista of the natural sight. This sight 
seems to me to resemble in some degree the almost 
preternatural scent of one of the canine species, — a 
comparison which may perhaps appear uncouth and 
strange. The great difficulty is to define it or say 
what it is like; any comparison that may serve to 
give even something like an approach to it, may be 
used. It has the power to direct the mental sight to 
objects far and near; read their histories as well as 
the changes incident thereto; their motives; under- 
stand all the incidents of a stranger's life, as well as 
his character and peculiarities, living or dead; and 
see the person who is dead to mortal view. As soon 
as the form becomes visible to my mental sight, I 
begin to see revealed his disposition and character, 
the cause and manner of his death, his history, even 



CLAIRVOYANCE. 



41 



to the scenes of his childhood, being carried through 
all this by psychological influence or magnetic 
power, and being, while conscious, entirely passive. I 
feel conscious of a contraction and pressure within 
the frontal brain ; become thoroughly interested in 
what I see, and gradually understand its meaning. 
Explanations come to me as clearly as if a person 
were imparting the information orally. I recognize 
any peculiarity in the tone of voice belonging to the 
individual whom I see, but hear it clairauditorially, 
there being clearness and distinctness in the tone of 
voice. I was at first greatly mystified and puzzled 
by hearing the voices of living persons, with peculiar 
tone and emphasis, accompanied by motions of the 
hand, even when conversing at the distance of many 
miles. I have tested this phenomenon in the most 
thorough and patient manner, and the result has 
been the most irrefragable proofs of its genuineness. 
To doubt it, would be like doubting our very exist- 
ence. I have seen countless incidents before they 
transpired; before any living being could possibly 
have known of them, and beyond the possibihty of 
my knowing anything about them in advance, or aught 
that could possibly lead to them; the time of seeing 
them, and their verification being hours, days, weeks, 
years apart, as the case might be. Without knowl- 
edge of them, or the least effort or desire to know, 



42 CLAIR VO YA NCE. 



or most remote thought of knowing, these events 
have been shown to me exactly as they have subse- 
quently been developed. To fully explain how^ all 
this is brought about, is more than I can do; at the 
same time all candid minds must admit that an unin- 
terrupted experience of twenty-three years of the 
same phenomena and the same results should be 
taken as conclusive. 

Can I convey this knowledge that has come to 
me through my own individual experience to others? 
This I am anxious to do, for by that means the sub- 
ject will gradually become divested of the supersti- 
tions and awe-inspiring features and unnaturalism 
that many sincere seekers after truth have regarded 
it as being enshrouded with. The subject is one that 
at least deserves to be looked at in the light of reason 
and experience. 

When we understand and believe the knowledge 
that was vouchsafed to man eighteen hundred years 
ago, that there are both a natural body and a spirit- 
ual presence; that, although the natural body must 
pass back to earth, the spirit will still live, we will 
understand the dual life which we are now living. 
It cannot be more true that there is a natural body 
and a natural brain than that there is a spiritual body 
and a spiritual brain. Hence, we see material things 
with the natural eye, and spiritual things through the 



CLAIR VO YANCE. 43 

capacities of the spirit-brain. The spiritual organi- 
zation being the highest, having come up through 
the workings of the greatest and noblest of nature's 
laws, gathering from all life its spiritual essence, 
until the dual condition of a human body and a 
spiritual presence is developed, the spirit is, from its 
immortal character and attributes, pre-eminent. It 
has grown out of the material in a manner inexpli- 
cable to finite minds, as the beautiful and luscious 
fruit grows out of the rough tree, or as the tree 
springs up from the seemingly insignificant seed. It 
is the highest and finest production of all earthly 
things, the chef d''mivre of the Great Artificer of 
the heavens and the earth. It is polarized on the 
same principle as that exemplified in the polarization 
of the earth, with a magnetic system of brain organ- 
isms, each organ individualized and separated bv a 
membrane having the magnetic quality to attract its 
own nourishment and vitalize it according to its order 
and the use to which it is adapted, in sympathy with 
every organ in its class; one class being, for example, 
spiritual, another mechanical, another musical, and so 
on to the end of the chapter. 

Neither hope, ideality nor spirituaHty reasons 
within itself Spiritualit}^, when divested of all form- 
alities, creeds and extraneous surroundings, speaks 
directly to the soul. It is the organ through which 



44 CLAIR VO YANCE. 



the soul comes in sympathy with the material world, 
and reveals its identity. Spirituality gives evidence 
of the existence of immortal attributes; ideality points 
out their existence and place; sublimity clothes the 
whole with grandeur; and hope desires its realiza- 
tion. These organs are all visible and useful in a 
worldly sense, but all belong to the higher life. 

Clairvoyant views are impressions made upon the 
spirit's perceptions, and, through the organ of spirit- 
uality, reach all things spiritual. This world being a 
material body with spirit life, and the spiritual intel- 
ligence of man being the highest, a power is given 
to him over all things of a lower grade in the scale 
of spiritual development. When the inner spirit- 
sight becomes active, directed by spirit intelligence, 
the currents are already formed for the transmission 
of Hght, sound and sight, through all material sub- 
stance that is permeated with spiritual life, wherever 
the mind of man has penetrated. Leaving the mag- 
netism of his thought and presence, the spirit- 
sight can be trained to follow, being able to examine 
the internal organs of the physical system, analyze 
the blood, discern diseased particles, trace diseases 
to their origin, determine the proper remedies to 
neutralize their effects, and bless the world with the 
truths thus revealed. It is none the less enabled to 
analyze the intellectual and moral qualities, tracing 



CLA IR VO YA NCE. 45 

hereditary traits of character back through genera- 
tions. 

It would appear self-evident that the exercise of 
this faculty would be impossible without the super- 
vision and aid of a higher power of spiritual discern- 
ment than the creatures of this world possess. This 
could not be otherwise. 

Although considerable Hght has been thrown 
upon Clairvoyance in later years, it is not by any 
means a modern development; it has accompanied 
rehgious development through all its stages. All 
ages have had their prophets and seers. The Hebrew 
prophets who foretold the origin and progress of 
Christianity were simply clairvoyants en raffort 
with the spirit world. St. Paul, the great apostle of 
the Gentiles, possessed this spiritual sight in an emi- 
nent degree, and bears testimony to the unity which 
pervades all life, spiritual and physical, throughout 
the universe. He says there is a natural body and 
there is a spiritual body, not that there is a natural 
body and there will be a spiritual body. The natural 
and spiritual both exist at the same time. The phy- 
sical and the spirit body each produces its fruits in 
reproducing its kind. The first shall be last, and the 
last first. The physical body gathers the combined 
magnetism of earth by its generic order, converting 
ail the elements of earth life, harmoniously blended, 



46 CLAIRVOYANCE. 



into the superior quality of animal existence. The 
still higher and more refined spirit body receives 
through the physical the life-food from all other forms 
of life; the spirit body and spirit brain structure, with 
its higher organic order, the noble fruit of earthly 
development that is to exist beyond this material 
plane, embodied and endowed with such knowledge, 
temperament, disposition and capacities as circum- 
stances, birth and education may have given it. And 
the deeds done in the physical body so aflect the 
spirit that judgment is already pronounced according 
to the natural law existing from first to last, enduring 
as the Maker Himself Even in the body evil habits 
exhibit their influence upon the spiritual nature. 
This life casts its gloomy shadow^s beyond, as well as 
its beauty and goodness. Any one taking a retro- 
spect of his records by the aid of memory — the book 
of life's recording — will find something like a true 
picture of what his heaven will be. The mantle of 
charity will be the one garment needed most when 
we all meet and are known for just what we are 
worth. 

All possible means should be used to enable man- 
kind to understand in what manner their spiritual part 
can be cultivated and approximately perfected, other- 
wise how can they learn of those things which are so 
all-important temporarily and eternally? Laying 



CLA IR VO YA NCE. 47 



aside all unprofitable controversy, and, to a very con- 
siderable extent, equalty profitless creeds and theo- 
ries, and contemplating from a spiritual standpoint 
through material life, there is onty one road to fol- 
low, which road leads to the Infinite. Man is an 
effect from an infinite cause, whose nature no man 
can fathom beyond the narrow limits assigned him. 
" Man, know thyself" suggests the great problem 
unsolved to-day, and the same obstacles remain in 
the pathway of our progress that have been apparent 
since the earliest history of the world — superstition, 
bigotry and ignorance, three formidable antago- 
nists, which may be denominated almost insurmount- 
able obstacles. There are, however, signs in the 
present age of a gradual change; these great spec- 
tres begin to lose ground as the truth advances 
through the development of spiritual gifts and spirit- 
ual growth, St. Paul did not go so far as to explain 
how or why some in his day had the gift to discern 
spirits, but there is now a great demand for light 
upon this point. With the enhanced development 
of spirituality in man's nature, there is a natural 
desire for more knowledge. There is no demand in 
nature for food until there is an appetite, which is 
almost invariably accompanied with the capacity to 
receive and digest it. While many doubt, some 
believe in the presence of spiritual beings without 



I 



CLAIRVOYANCE. 



tangible proofs. When Jesus said to the doubting 
Thomas, " Come and touch me," He did not attach 
blame to him because of his unbelief, knowing so 
well his natural characteristics, and that positive 
proof was necessary to convince him, and He was 
willing to vouchsafe that proof. But all have not 
the reason, the wisdom and the considerateness ol 
Jesus. To-day there are those who refuse to believe 
even what their eyes behold, and what natural science 
and good sense would teach. When Jesus told the 
woman at the well certain things in her past life, she 
believed He was the Lord. To-day a clairvoyant 
describes past events as well as the present, and fol- 
lows beyond with equal accuracy, and is called a mind- 
reader, one who has developed a gift as undefinable 
as Clairvoyance to the common mind, but preferable 
to the latter, because of those three spectres obscuring 
with their giant proportions all things over which 
their shadows may come darkling, closing every 
avenue through which truth may enter, and Hke an 
inevitable destiny decreeing for all men everlasting 
happiness or miserjr. There are many, doubtless, 
whose sympathies have been enlisted by this the- 
ology to-day because of the truth that has come 
through the gift of Clairvoyance — the discerning of 
spirits — and as spiritual things must be spiritually 
discerned, we come to the point of explaining how 



CLAIRVOYANCE. 49, 



that may be possible and natural, as we see clairvoy- 
antly, which means clear-seeing, ^. e.^ seeing inde- 
pendent of the material eye through the window 
whereby the spirit looks out into the material world,, 
comprehending only material things, and dependent 
upon material support, and having necessarily a 
circumscribed vision according to the natural law 
governing it — the small telescope provided by nature 
for the indwelling spirit's use. The clairvoyant sight 
is the spirit e3^e without the use of the optical nerve 
telescope, and its vision is as unlimited as thought 
or memory, or any other mental attribute when per- 
fectly free from the magnetism of animal life. 

St. Paul says there was a man caught up into the 
third heaven, but he could not tell whether he was 
in the body or not. Most clairvoyants have expe- 
rienced similar phenomena. As the spirit becomes 
free, and knowing no power save its own volition, it 
leaves the material senses asleep, as it were, for the 
time, while it looks out and into its own province?- 
inspired by spiritual magnetism and spiritual thought, 
to investigate beyond its prison bars in the flesh; en-^ 
tering into the inmost secrets of human life, and tracing 
through all its manifold changes the gradual unfold- 
ing of nature's plan. As spirit life permeates all 
things with magnetic attractive power, the clairvoy- 
ant spirit sight follows, going wherever it may be 



50 CLAIR VO YANCE. 



directed by the will, comprehending according to 
the intelligence already acquired, or the power of 
inspiration received from other spirit intelligences, 
who have lived free from the environments of a 
material world, and become clear-seeing as well as 
clairauditory, having the sense of hearing without 
material sound. If there were no other sense than 
sound or hearing, no knowledge of its meaning would 
be conveyed to the spirit. But the spiritual ear is 
the real, and the spiritual sight the real. Through 
the clairvoyant sight the spirit life is seen; through 
clairauditory sense spirit voices are heard, and they 
are drawn into material recognizance through the 
magnetic blending of the two. 

We have the telephone, through which voices are 
easily heard and distinguished for the distance of 
many miles. As soon as the words are transmitted, 
the mind takes them up and comprehends their 
meaning. Sometimes memory must be aroused 
before the right meaning can be understood, as it 
must connect with some idea that the spiritual mind 
has already acquired. The spirit, being the only 
intelligence capable ot reasoning, must receive all 
messages, all impressions, and determine their use. 
The material body holds magnetic relations with all 
material forms, and lives out its hfe in less than a 
century, while the spirit has only arrived at the age 
of birth when the body dissolves. 



CLAIR VO YANCE. 5 r 



That the spirit is and has always been the inspi- 
rator of all intelligence; that it should act independ- 
ent of the dull, material body sense, ought not to 
surprise any one, but on the contrary should meet 
with a ready acceptance. The clairvoyant sight, 
following as it does, magnetic currents, wherever 
thought can go the spirit vision follows. If we 
should think of impossible things and wish to see 
what might be painted by the imagination, impene- 
trable darkness would be presented, showing nothing. 
When the mind conceives erroneous ideas concern- 
ing realities. Clairvoyance shows where the mis- 
takes are by becoming in sympathy with the object 
and analyzing its nature, determining cause and 
effect. Having only my own experience for a teacher, 
and being perfectly conscious while seeing — even 
more conscious than usual — as the whole intellectual 
force seems to gain in intelligence, new thoughts and 
new explanations of what I see come readily to my 
understanding as my sight follows beyond the exter- 
nal appearance into the very heart and life of all liv- 
ing things, even to objects having no connection 
with intelligent thought. 

The physical eye is perfected at the birth of the 
body, before the spiritual manifestation requisite to 
understand what it sees is developed. The slow 
growth of a child's intelligence is due to the simple 



5 2 CLAIR VO YANCE. 



fact that the higher sense of individuality is in 
embryo, in the process of a slow development. The 
child needs protection and care until their superior 
intelligence has grown to a stage that seems to insure 
perfect self-reliance. The animal instinct, being per- 
fect at the birth of the body, requires only food and 
sleep to enable it to acquire strength. The spiritual 
food, on the other hand, must come through the 
growth and intuitive sense inspired by the example 
of others, leading the 3^oung mind first by objects 
visible to the natural sight and hearing, impressions 
being made, by repetitions, upon the intelligent brain, 
and spiritual possibilities developed unknown to the 
mere animal life. This spirit intelligence, with all 
its forces combined, conceives new ideas and men- 
tally views the process of their creation. If the struct- 
ure be something mechanical, an engine for example^ 
the mind perceives and realizes its utility before its 
construction, and fully understands why it should 
perform the work to which it is adapted. 

The great danger to human progress from creeds 
is that the mind is trained to follow in a single chan- 
nel, casting all thought into one crucible, and, if 
one's ideals are not supported, casting out all evi- 
dence that might lead to a more intelhgent explana- 
tion of the mysteries of nature, whose solution always 
awaits the progress of spirituality. 



CLA IR VO YANCE. 5 3 



Jn our age and country we have the Bible, a book 
assumed to be the only guide to Heaven, which is 
depicted as a state of conscious beatitude and a place 
of eternal rest; the end of all progress; all activities, 
as it were, in a state of petrifaction ; the intensification 
of one selfish interest to the exclusion of all other 
interest? and all affections. This lamentable condi- 
tion of mind is caused by consecrating every aspira- 
tion and thought to the one object, destroying the 
true principle of the spiritual organization, its uni- 
formity and harmony, the principle which should be 
preserved in order to make the created in sympathy 
with the Creator. As the child acquires its first step 
in knowledge by means of object lessons, so should 
the maturer thought grasp the spiritual life forces 
and study their nature from a spiritual standpoint. 
The clairvoyant sight frees itself from all material envi- 
ronments, all creeds, all educational acquirements, 
following freely the attractions of natural laws, and 
holding life's principle within its embrace. 

Mind readers receive credit for truthful exempli- 
fications of their power, but give no explanation be- 
yond the simple fact of being impressible through the 
magnetic attraction of thought, conveyed from one 
individual to another, one phase of spiritual indepen- 
dence limited to the primary circumscribed condi- 
tions of object impressions, and holding to fully 



54 CLAIR VO YANCE. 



developed spirituality a similar relation to that which 
the child holds to the mature man. 

The possibilities of spiritual progression and its 
superior attributes as they may be connected with 
the future life, beyond the confines ol earth's attrac- 
tions, and inspired by the spiritual one, can be imag- 
ined and understood only just so far as our intelHgent 
spirit education enables us to comprehend that which 
is given through Clairvoyance. The understanding 
must be inspired equally with the perceptions. In 
this age Clairvoyance has a place among the natural 
sciences, but the world lacks wisdom on the subject 
of spiritual science, and, like all new discoveries, it 
will have to win its way gradually to the front. 
Being a progressive light, it is certain in due time to 
dispel the darkness of ignorance concerning its truths. 
The many absurd errors concerning it come through 
the ignorance of the receptive party, but its advance 
must and will evolve truth and hght, and the in- 
telligent world will receive it as a blessing from 
Heaven, when, through its instrumentality, diseases 
of the physical body shall be intelligently explained, 
remedies found and much suffering averted, while at 
the same time the natural science of the spiritual life 
wdll be made plain, the terrors of death dispelled, the 
realit}' of the future life proven, and all may be saved 
from that wilderness of doubt and fear concerning the 
true nature of the life to come. 



CLA IR VO YA NCE. 5 5 



SPIRIT-LONGING. 

For'ever wakefully the ear is turning 
To catch some token from the shadowy sphere; 
For ever is the full heart strongly yearning 
Some word of promise from the depths to hear. 

And there are kindred spirits dwelling with us. 
And mingling yet their loving thoughts with ours. 
For ever dwelling in communion nigh us, 
In virtue's way to cheer our lagging powers. 

The grave is not a bourne, whose sombre portal 
Closeth eternal o'er the bright and fair; 
But through its gate, to blessedness immortal, 
The spirit passeth, endless life to share. 

Still old affection hereward back returning, 
And whispering words to vis of joy and peace; 
And spiritual eyes are round us, burning 
With holier love as heav'nly powers increase. 

B. P. Shillaber. 



THE MAGNETIC PRINCIPLE. 



It is idle to speculate as to the period at which 
the principle of magnetism was evolved. It is 
one which is as old as the earth itself. It is in- 
wrought with our very existence, and therefore part 
and parcel of our nature. That it was not fully un- 
derstood in the infancy of the world does not in the 
least militate against this truth. The principle of the 
solar system had no place in the knowledge or even 
in the wildest imagination of the world before the 
time of Copernicus, but this does not prove that the 
planets did not pursue their rounds in obedience to 
fixed laws through the vast realms of space. Although 
the principle is far reaching and profound, it is 
equally profitless to seek to invest it with the char- 
acteristics of mystery. As in the case of everything 
else intimately connected with our being, it is diffi- 
cult to go astray, save by those who by nature and 
habit persistently choose the darkness of mystery 
and falsehood to the sunlight of truth. It may not 
be improper, however, to present something which 
may serve for illustration touching both the principle 



58 THE MAGNETIC PRINCIPLE. 

itself and some of its phenomena as revealed by ex- 
perience and the light of reason. 

The universe is replete with symbolic features 
and affinitive laws. The marvelous progress of the 
past few hundred years in all that pertains to natural 
advancement, is not more important in the mighty 
developments which it marks than in the higher ad- 
vancement of which it is the type. Very naturally, 
this general characteristic applies to the subject of our 
investigation. The principle of animal magnetism 
has its counterpart in the very principle which sways 
the mighty earth. The loadstone, which possesses 
the subtle and mysterious property that attracts iron 
and points to the pole, has its counterpart m the 
human frame, which \^ frima facie evidence that 
there exists in both some correlative element. That 
it is neither more nor less than magnetic-attractive 
force is so plain that he who runs may read. The 
magnetism of the earth is diffused through every 
atom of the earth's surface and productions, and 
without it there would be no activities; without elec- 
tricity there would be no polarization. Although 
magnetism is diffused through all life, there is rather 
a wide diversity in its manifestations. There are not 
only magnets that attract but magnets that generate, 
and a diverse magnetism in all individualities. Iron 
is magnetic in its native state; the waters of so-called 



THE MAGNETIC PRINCIPLE. 59 

mineral springs derive their intensified magnetic 
power from iron, mercury, quicksilver and other min- 
erals infused into the underground currents, thus be- 
coming incorporated with miscellaneous ingredients 
in their course throuijh the earth. 

The great polar magnet draws all electric cur- 
rents which convey magnetism toward the north 
pole, diffusing magnetism, conducted by electricity, 
to and through everything that exists, in the water 
that encircles the earth, in the air we breathe, in the 
food that nourishes the vegetable, animal or human 
system, each individuality forming for itself a mag- 
net, according to its nature and origin. In all re- 
productive individualities the ripened seed contains 
its magnet and elective sex, and when both forces 
conjoin there is immediate adhesion through this 
quality, which enfolds a living germ. Nature ar- 
ranges her work. The battery is at once set at 
work in the process of development, attracting its 
food and utilizing it according to its organic genus 
or species. In all animals — both as respects merely 
physical characteristics and mental attributes — the 
electric battery is located at the base of the brain. 
When food is taken into the stomach, certain quali- 
ties strongly magnetized through the agency of the 
battery are transmitted from this polarized point con- 
trolling it and assimilating its qualities to its own 



6o THE MAGNETIC PRINCIPLE. 

inducing such chemical action as will enable the same 
food to afford nourishment to many different varieties 
of animals. Magnetism being the controlling vital- 
izing power, fed from the blood and nerve fluids, from 
this pole or battery all the laws of species are deter- 
mined. When there occurs any disease or obstruc- 
tion in the way of free circulation from the base of 
the brain, there is mental disturbance as a natural 
result. Sometimes gaseous effluvia arise from dis- 
eased parts, which are carried to the base of the 
brain, carrying poison with them, creating a fullness 
inconsistent with healthful action, and obstructing the 
harmonious action between the food and the 
magnetism necessary to give it due effect. The 
individual so affected will soon begin to lose strength 
of character. He will be affected both physically 
and mentally. At first, such organs of the brain as 
are diseased usually become irritated, and if the 
cause is removed before the breaking down oi the 
tissues supervenes a cure may be effected, but if the 
disease becomes intensified, insanity^ or idiocy will be 
the natural consequence, attended perhaps with 
moral depravity and bestial proclivities. These un- 
happy results are owing simply to there being no 
law and order in the system, the magnetic influence 
being overthrown. Where the disturbing influences 
are less strongly marked diseases will naturally be 
developed in a corresponding degree. 



THE MA GNE TIC PRINCIPLE. 6i 



The facts thus set forth will serve to afford some 
idea of the intimate connection of this vital principle 
with our physical and mental well-being. It is nec- 
essarily part and parcel of the animal econom}^ — the 
motive power of the wonderful work-shop of nature. 
Every nerve-cell is a magnet whereby magnetism is 
generated, giving out magnetic power to the infinitesi- 
mal branches leading toward the surface of the body, 
each holding a position consistent with its peculiar 
office. Electricity breathed into the lungs and pores 
in the form of oxygenized air evolves activity, and 
the magnetic properties embodied within material 
substances develop life. Every corpuscle of blood 
holds a germ of life. Life is the great law of nature; 
inanition is the exception. The great magnet at the 
pole absorbs the vital principle and carries it higher, 
as food for the mind, the brain, the spirit, which also 
has its magnet in unison with the universal plan — 
the higher spirit-magnet which is connected with all 
material sense in the bod}^ and e7i rapport with all 
things beyond the physical system. On the electric 
wires her messengers are sent forth. Thoughts are 
themselves magnetic, and give their impress to the 
brain by means of a receptive organ, tinted with 
countless images of preternatural beaut}^, called mem- 
ory, while intense thoughts, inexpressed by words, 
go forth on their beautiful mission to impress other 



62 THE MAGNE TIC PRINCIPLE. 

minds, inspiring thoughts of those whose influence 
they are then made to feel; a living presence although 
unseen and fully recognized through the agency of 
memory. Hence also the electric thrill that conveys 
the magnetism of another through his will, which 
may be termed recognition and desire, acting upon 
the polar system of the individual, an action corres- 
pondent to that whereby planets are swayed by the 
principle embodied in the great universe itself Thus 
all individualities are as planets, each a world in it- 
self, with magnetic polarization imparted by a higher 
system, but possessing a spiritual organization, hold- 
ing in subjection the lesser and darker elements of 
earthly mold. To carry the simile farther, we may 
liken the lakes and rivers which thread the green 
and beautiful earth to the ebbing veins and arteries 
of our natural body, and in a similar way to every 
department of our world, as well as of other w^orlds, 
all being more or less dependant upon each other. 



THE MAGNETISM OF NATURAL 
LIFE. 



Having described the great magnetic principle 
that controls the order of species, and the polariza- 
tions that distinguish the general system, I will now 
briefly advert to the action of the same principle more 
particularly as concerns its intimate relation to our 
natural life. In sympathy with the entire organism 
of nature, this principle is, through clairvoyant 
discernment, distinctly visible, and its wonderful pos- 
sibilities made manifest. As premised in the pre- 
ceding pages, from every part of the brain is traced 
a direct communication with the heart and stomach, 
resembling a cloud of a soft purple, like that wit- 
nessed in showers when the strong rays of the 
sun force their way through the rain. This appear- 
ance is similar to that of smoke ascending through 
the atmosphere in the distance, at the same time 
showing a firm, strong power that draws towards its 
pole like bands of steel, and sends back powerful 
negative and positive forces of equal strength. This 
constant and regular active power causes the pulsa- 



04 THE MA GNE TISM OF NA TURA L LIFE. 

tion of the heart and the circulation of the blood. 
And as all the nerves are connected with this great 
battery, a division is made, and the finer spiritual 
magnetism extracted and directed toward the intel- 
lectual brain, and from the emotional center to the 
spirit brain. The magnetism that perforates the 
frontal brain is white and sparkling, and gives to the 
facial nerves the power of expression, either of mirth 
or grief, passive or thoughtful. The face becomes a 
perfect index of emotional feeling, every sentiment 
being depicted with a power of expression belonging 
to the human race alone. 

The perfection of natural law as seen from the 
spiritual standpoint, is wonderful indeed. The active 
work of the magnetic forces is not unhke that of the 
steam engine. As from the cylinder the wonderous 
strength of the mechanism is sent, and from the 
great wheel all the smaller wheels receive the impulse 
of motion, all moving in unison to the remotest part 
of the machinery, so with the still more wonderful 
human battery. And when its fires go out, all is 
still. 

It seems almost like trenching upon the confines 
of truism to characterize the great laws of our being 
as -perfect. The entire machinery is carried on by 
the onty really perfect chemical system ever known — 
that of nature. After the proper preparation and 



THE MA GNE TISM OF NA T URA L LIFE. 65 



designation of our food, the nerves convey to each 
department of sense, taste, feeling, including muscle,, 
bone, hair, nails, and each and every minuti^, the 
specific quantity and quality requisite to nourish and 
perfect its own, all drawing from one fountain what 
ever is appropriate to its particular department. As 
long as perfect control is maintained and there is no 
obstruction to circulation, there is harmony and 
health in every department. The life-food of the 
senses and of feeling, magnetized from the battery of 
the brain, becomes magnetism, permeating the phys- 
ical system, and forming an enveloping atmosphere 
so individuaHzed that it never loses all of its nature 
even when taken into the organism of other species 
of animal life, for example, the case of the carnivorous 
race that prey upon other animals. The lion holds pre- 
eminent power over all other animals, combining as 
he does all the stronger qualities peculiar to the 
purely animal race, strength, courage, pride and 
ferocity, and impelled by the organic necessities of 
his peculiar species and magnetism. A lion does 
not feed upon another lion that he has killed in com- 
bat. The similarity or sameness in magnetism 
would be unchanged by the digestive chemical 
action of the lion's stomach. As there could be no 
battery — no opposing negative and positive forces — 
between the lion's organic species and magnetism 



66 THE MA GNE TISM OF NA T URA L LIFE. 

in the lion's flesh, the lion would naturally fall 
back to a lower grade of animal life. That the in- 
stinct of animals often exceeds the intelligence of man, 
is a fact that has been frequently remarked. There 
are human beings who practice cannibalism, but even 
the lower order of animals will not prey upon their 
kind. This is true of the dog, the cat, and the rat, 
although they will devour the grade either above or 
below their kind. 

The Indian's habit of depending entirely for sus- 
tenance upon animal food, intensifies the magnetism 
of the lower brain, making a stronger battery which 
impairs and enfeebles the light of reason and is in 
every way antagonistic to the development of spirit- 
uality. His nature cannot be made to harmonize 
with the usages and theories of civilized life until his 
habits undergo a change and his food partakes in 
part of vegetable substance, and even then it would 
require two or three generations to effect a radical 
change in his character and disposition, so powerful is 
this law of inheritance from magnetic action. The 
condition of the African slave is essentially different, 
his food being very meager, consisting mainly of 
fruits and cereal products, very little meat being 
allowed him. There is consequently a marked con- 
trast with the Indian in all his leading characteristics. 
The race is affectionate but naturallv indolent and 



J 



THE MA GNE TISM OF NA TURA L LIFE. 67 

cowardly and easily subdued. They are withal very 
superstitious, this trait giving its impress to their 
own crude ideas of a fetish God, whose favor will be 
obtained through the tortures they inflict upon them- 
selves. At the same time they are easily converted 
to a new religion where their natural faith leads. 

With the carnivorous animal magnetism are inten- 
sified the elements of many different genera of ani- 
mals, each individuality having its own organic char- 
acteristics and peculiarities, whose magnetism never 
loses its properties when taken into the systems of 
other animals, but, on the contraiy, imparts to them 
additional strength, the greater dominating the weaker. 
The higher classes of the carnivorous race have inten- 
sified magnetic power, and in the animal the magnet 
or battery extends along the entire spinal column, 
exciting and imparting strength to every part of the 
system alike. It is perceptible in the entire cat tribe, 
wild or tame. As soon as their natural instincts are 
aroused, the first movement is a swaying of the body 
and the lashing about of the tail, indicating a "rising 
temper" or active battery that sends out through 
every nerve magnetic and electric thrills that com- 
bine force and will with energy, courage and strength, 
enabling the animal to spring upon its victim with 
mighty force, like a ball propelled by gunpowder. 
These animals are found in warm magnetic climates' 



68 THE MA GIVE TISM OF NAT URA L LIFE. 

living in jungles that absorb and retain the intensified 
magnetism of never-d3^ing vegetation. These traits 
are visible in races like the North American Indians^ 
from the similarity of habits, animal food being their 
only nourishment. 

Where cannibalism prevails, fearful maladies are 
developed through the loathsome and unnatural prac- 
tice, such as leprosy, scrofula, venereal diseases, etc. 
The food containing human magnetism cannot assim- 
ilate with the living magnetic power necessary to 
convert it to natural use. There is violence to the 
laws of our being, and nature revolts. In the human 
S3^stem more injury is done than would be apparent 
in a parallel case with the animal, because there is 
another battery of a spiritual nature that furnishes 
food for thought, its magnetism being diffused through 
the intellectual brain. This battery, from its nature^ 
is entirely negative to the influence of human food, 
and the latter would simply remain in the system as 
a blood poisoner. Within our knowledge there has 
never been a case of the eating of human flesh by 
its kind having been impelled by necessity, in which 
insanity and death has not been the result sooner or 
later. In a low grade of undeveloped spirituality, 
where the animal brain and instincts bear sway, the 
injury might be entailed only upon the physical 
organism, but where large intellectual and spiritual 



THE MA GNE TISM OF NA TURAL LIFE. 6g 

organs constitute the governing power, the battery 
and spiritual magnetism being the strongest, the 
injury would naturally manifest itself in the intellect- 
ual system, and the diseased matter would be lodged 
at the base of the spirit brain. The only manner in 
which human blood can be introduced into the human 
system is b}^ injecting it into the veins while the 
blood is warm with magnetic life, thereby being 
capable of preserving its own living germs in blood 
capsules, but it is incapable of going through the 
digestion of the germs to which it belongs. 

A law cognate with that whose illustration I have 
souofht to render clear is observable in the case of 
the intermarriage of near relatives by consanguinity. 
Where such relationship becomes unbroken by the 
admixture of alien blood through many successive 
generations, the organic order, mental as well as 
ph3^sical, becomes dissipated through there being an 
insufficient change to induce a proper polarized 
organization, and hence the organic system becomes 
weak from too close an alliance in generative quality. 
There is a great similarity between the mental and 
physical developments. Cousins may with safety 
intermarry where parents from different nationalities 
have formed a union, representing mixed races and 
a diversity of temperament, disposition and magnet- 
ism. In such cases, ancestors, through the genera- 



70 THE MA GNE TISM OF NA TURAL LIFE. 

tive qualities upon both sides, are duly represented, 
and prevailing traits are therefore inherited from both, 
strong qualities being not unfreqently blended in the 
descendants, where the parentage has come through 
strong, healthy individuals ms, possessing due mag- 
netic strength, and thus conveying through repeated 
organisms their force of character respectively. But 
it will not do to repeat this in direct lines of genera- 
tion, even though the parents may have come from 
different nationalities. 

A similar law is well known by experts and 
scientists as existing in the vegetable world. Where 
the same kind of seed has been sown ,on the same 
ground for many consecutive years, there is a very 
perceptible diminution in perfection and strength. 
This is simply because one kind of seed extracts 
from the soil that which is adapted to its nature, 
draining from it that particular quality, while that 
which would feed some other species of plant remains 
unchanged, showing that change of seed is necessary. 
Experienced agriculturists understand that by alter- 
nating their wheat crop with clover, so far from the 
latter exhausting the soil, it will impart to it — and in 
no stinted degree — the very qualities that stimulate 
the production of wheat. The existence of this 
cardinal natural law may not be so strikingly appa- 
rent in the rearing of animals, but its existence is 



I 



THE MA GNE TISM OF NA TURA L LIFE. 7 1 

none the less pronounced. It is more immutable 
than the laws of the Medes and Persians. The 
farmer learns the mysteries of agricultural science 
from nature herself, and is rewarded by the result of 
his labors, his patience and care, in golden fruitage. 
How is it with his children? Is the rearing of them 
of less importance than the rearing of his live stock 
or the garnering of his harvests? If his wife is truly 
a helpmeet, able and willing to work, he feels that 
he is blessed, but little or no thought is given to 
his children that may be. No care whatever is 
observed that his wife or himself may be properly 
conditioned in health or in temperament, his children 
are brought into the world not so much from the 
desire of the parents as from circumstances; not the 
fruits of careful consideration and preparation, pro- 
tected, as far as may be, from evil or injury, but more 
like the products of seed that may have fallen upon 
rocky and desert places; perchance now and then, by 
pure good fortune, upon good ground. How difier- 
ent from the principles and the sentiments that should 
animate human beings toward the tender, helpless 
ones that are to grow up and cluster around the fire- 
side, those who may contribute so largely toward 
making earth what our Heavenly Father intended it 
to be a paradise. We ought, indeed, to feel pain to 
have "even the winds of Heaven visit them too 



72 THE MA GNE TISM OF NA T URA L LIFE. 

roughly." The great object of our life study should 
be a harvest of pure and perfectly organized children, 
who may inherit the Divine blessing with healthy 
bodies and well-balanced minds. They are the only 
treasures of all earth's teeming products that live 
beyond the material world. This transitory life is, 
alas! too short for the perfect development of every 
virtue; too overburdened with sorrow for much com- 
fort or happiness; too frivolous in its present using 
of opportunities for personal benefits; too temporizing 
for the enunciation and establishment of enduringf 
principles of truth and right; too sedulously guarded 
by vigilant defenders of their own selfish interests 
and their own one-sided opinions; too careless, in the 
self-interest of the majority, of consequences to others. 
The love of truth and humanity lies dormant, silently 
watching for the awakening of the soul's true inspi- 
rations to rise above life's tinsel and show, the artifi- 
cial shamming of happiness, and hungry for truth, 

" Even as an echo hungry for the wind." 

Oh spirit of Truth! how beautiful thou art, with 
all thy grand, noble and inspiring attributes! Give 
me from thine Eternal Fount the bread of life — the 
truth itself! 

Let Hope's immortal mission be 
The light thy presence brings to me! 



MAGNETIC TREATMENT. 



Through the experience and observation of many 
years, I have become fully convinced that the theo- 
retic idea that nature requires aid merely, may be 
regarded as a veritable axiom. In extending that 
aid, it is necessary to know positively the condition 
of the physical body and natural temperament, the 
better to understand and appreciate nature's require- 
ments. I have reason to believe that but few physi- 
cians are satisfied with the knowledge they possess, 
regarding either the true nature of disease gener- 
ally, or the proper method of its treatment. Some, 
indeed, have undisguisedly confessed their dissatis- 
faction with the extent of their knowledge, as well as 
their desire for a better and more thorough compre- 
hension of nature's laws. Yet at the same time they 
are taking the great responsibility of life and death 
in their keeping, and some of them lack the conscien- 
tiousness to acknowledge their inability to save life, 
even in cases where the peril is most imminent. I 
have no doubt but that the science of physiology is 
steadily progressing, and that the time will come 



74 MAGNETIC TREATMENT. 

when a physician will know the nature of the ail- 
ments of his patients before administering remedies, 
and not be constrained to resort to experimental 
resources. 

Life is too short to remedy the incalculable effects 
of mistakes, and too precious to warrant the risk of 
dangerous experiments. 

It is a lamentable fact that a jealous fear actuates 
many noble and otherwise true-hearted men, in their 
denunciation of other means through which disease 
may be cured than those within their own particular 
line of treatment, which in most cases is sedulously 
hidden from the patient. I do not wish to be under- 
stood as having no faith in the average physician, but 
I believe the profession could be improved in scientific 
knowledge, in all that pertains to the preservation of 
human life and the amelioration and cure of its 
maladies. Very little is known concerning magnetic 
treatment as a science, although it is practiced by 
thousands, and its inestimable benefits have been 
realized. 

It is a difficult subject to explain in a few words. 
There are many theories concerning the magnetic 
action, as produced through friction by the hand 
upon the surface of the body; but a person needs to 
understand the principle of magnetism, and to be him- 
self or herself so constituted as to e^enerate ma^-net- 



MAGNETIC TREATMENT. 75 

ism rapidly, and convey it through the hands and 
mind, to the patient. One who can, may conscien- 
tiously claim a healing power identical with that 
through which cures have been performed that have 
been denominated miracles. Unfortunately there are 
no authors that have treated upon the subject, and 
from my own experience I reaHze how dull of com- 
prehension most of us are. We read the antiquated 
saying that experience is a dear school, in which even 
though a fool one may learn. Well, then, as my 
knowledge has come through experience, I know 
that magnetism is the great living principle as well 
as great healing principle of Hfe. The negative 
and positive will power in all nature holds and con- 
trols individualities, attracts its affinities, and rejects 
that which does not belong to its individual needs. 
The magnetic atmosphere of a human body extends 
for the distance of two or three feet outward more or 
less, according to the health and strength of the 
individual, with its negative and positive force. The 
diseases of the physical body are represented in this 
atmosphere much the same as malaria is represented 
in the atmosphere of the earth. All accessions to 
this magnetic ferce convey to the weaker body 
greater power to free itself from dead matter by 
increasing its vitality and natural strength. 



76 MAGNETIC TREATMENT. 

The atmosphere of the material body, when it 
has lost its healthy action, infects the fresh air before 
it reaches the pores, and the new vitality in the air 
loses its vigor and cannot enter into the work of 
regenerating the weak and diseased body. The 
atmosphere of the body must be purified; each pore 
in the skin needs to be thoroughly cleansed, and not 
exhausted still more by hot water baths, which 
tend to weaken the system. 

The massage., or French method, forces the blood 
to the surface, and in that way compels the evacua- 
tion of dead matter through the pores, but the blood 
poison continues to generate the disease and fill them 
again, and the work of massage must be continued in 
order to keep up any degree of health. The " Swed- 
ish movement cure "and "lift cure " both act in 
accordance with the same theory, and their opera- 
tions are beneficial so far as their work goes. The 
blood absorbs through the walls of the pores in the 
skin both air and the strength of the remedies — their 
spirit essence — while the gross material that gave it 
body may be removed. The great advantage accru- 
ing from this mode of treatment, of introducing the 
medicinal qualities into the system through the pores 
of the skin connected with magnetic treatment, lies in 
its immediate eflfect, while life's activities are strength- 
ened and relieved from the refuse matter and fluids 



MAGNETIC TREATMENT. 77 

which have dried into a thick paste and closed the 
natural outlet. The increased vitality on the sur- 
faces sets the natural magnetism at work, gaining 
power to do so directly from the negative and posi- 
tive poles, in its reflex action, from the surface 
nerves to the spinal cord; the battery producing 
action throughout the whole system. Diseased blood 
corpuscles either float in the veins or lodge in the 
tissues. The natural magnetism cannot act upon- 
the diseased blood, as its vital life has been destroyed, 
except to give more active force in expelling it, 
either through the pores or other channels provided 
by nature. It is in strict accordance with natural 
laws that remedies are infused through the pores. 

The plants inhale through the leaves the vitalized 
air, the breath of their lives; the earth inhales its 
vitalized germs from the atmosphere which feed the 
soil, and in turn are absorbed by vegetation; vegeta- 
tion breathes out into the atmosphere its vitalized 
emanations, which may be identified by their charac- 
teristic odors. Take, for example, the queen of 
flowers, the rose. Its natural product is its incom- 
parably beautiful perfume — its spirit life and essence. 
So with many other beautiful flowers, that seem to 
have no other mission than to enrapture the senses 
with their beauty and fragrance. 



78 MAGNETIC TREATMENT. 

Owing, perhaps, to the imperfect development of 
our spiritual sense, there are many blessings in this 
world that do not appear to us in their true light, 
while nature is transfusing, in one of her vast alem- 
bics, the atmosphere, the spiritual essence of all her 
productions, and imparting the sweet perfumes of 
the beautiful flowers, and the evergreen balsams 
which abound in our land, carrying healing medi- 
cinal powers on through the winds. How unmindful 
are the many who enjoy the invigorating atmosphere 
of the beautiful mornings in spring and summer, as 
the evaporated essence of nature has been returned to 
earth in the dews, with fresh magnetic power and 
electricity — the two vitalizing agents in all life. This 
silent but beautiful and beneficent work is always 
in progress throughout the immeasurable universe. 

The very nature of our existence and the terms 
upon which we are permitted to enjoy life, suggest a 
treatment by means of absorbents through the skin 
by magnetic attraction — the spirit of life as it is 
revealed by nature from outer appliances, and human 
magnetism combined taken at once into the system. 
The remedial agents thus infused with the magnet- 
ism of the human genus, become assimilated with the 
blood, adding new life and neutralizing the poison 
already accumulated, and, by the reinforcements 
brought to bear upon the debris which is lodged 



MAGNETIC TREATMENT. 79 

along its channels, will be able to carry the lifeless 
load on through its natural course to the surface, 
where it will become separated and destroyed* In 
administering treatment it should be over the entire 
surface of the body with equal force, in order to 
equalize the circulation and remove all obstacles. 
The magnet at the poles will then be enabled to 
transmit its properties to every part alike, supplying 
the nerve cells, and meet every demand when the 
necessity is suddenly developed for greater activity 
and stronger power. The power to secrete and 
excrete properly is dependent upon the negative and 
positive strength and the action of natural magnet- 
ism. The use of liniments and prepared ointments 
rubbed into the pores by thorough friction produces 
magnetic action and causes vibratory movements 
from the surface to the spine, and from one set of 
nerves to all others, creating universal unity, and 
equal labor throughout. The negative pole sends 
out the dead, and the positive attracts the living, 
utilizing its properties. That which is absorbed is 
only the vital part of the substance used, being at 
once infused with natural magnetism, taken hold of 
by a force in a manner inscrutable, but nevertheless 
entirely natural. Something in the shape of an illus- 
tration may be afforded by referring to the action of 
croton oil when rubbed into the pores, which creates 



8o MAGNETIC TREATMENT. 

irritation, and culminates in painful sores. The 
natural magnetism refuses to harmonize with it, and 
allows its poison to destroy the blood corpuscles. In 
the excitement caused internally, the natural magnet 
makes strong effort to resist the invasion, and in the 
resistance morbid matter is forced within the reach of 
the febrile attraction, that is consuming the healthy 
blood as well as collecting the bad, and thus burning 
up the good blood, that it may attract the diseased* 
It is hardly necessary to characterize this treatment 
as foreign to nature. The poison brings its own 
power to act in accordance with its own peculiar 
law. No remedy can bring permanent efficacy 
unless there is assimilation with the human system 
and vitality imparted to the constitution. By the 
increase of the vital power, natural results cannot fail 
to supervene. The physical body acts from its own 
organic influence, and only needs assistance while its 
work is too heavy for its strength. 

When disease from any source becomes incorpo- 
rated with the blood, the diseased corpuscles develop 
fungi; these take form from the predominating sub- 
stance, causing a separation from the natural mag- 
netism. This state of things may be compared to 
that of a poisonous weed that floats in the water. The 
weed draws nourishment from the water, but is not 
the water. It is also much like the scum that arises 



MAGNETIC TREATMENT. 8r 

on the surface of new wine in the state of fermenta- 
tion — that which was of the body that held the 
essence, which is akin to spiritual life. The dross is 
thrown ofi' by the active force in the new wine in 
purifying itself. Thus the magnetic life within the 
physical body makes an effort to force the dead gross 
matter to the surface, and failing to accomplish this, 
drives it from the channels as far as possible, where 
it settles and forms a location of its own, whence, 
through its active properties, it at once becomes an 
irritant and begins to generate new life from its own 
conditions and surroundings, producing unnatural 
heat; it attracts and congests the blood and asserts 
dominion over its own natural province, gradually 
increasing through the operation of natural generic 
law. It speedily gains magnetic attraction from prim- 
ary conditions of life; first a mold, then fungus, 
then decay, and finally pus, or refuse matter, which 
nature tries to expel; and sending it out into the mem- 
braneous linings and tissues, the poison of its nature 
there finds work in making way for its passage 
through the system. When this centralization of 
diseased blood increases in virus, it produces animal- 
culas, that increase every hour, and live their brief 
hour, only to furnish conditions for a more numerous 
brood. The dead animalculae betray themselves by 
their odor, and the intensified disease is known as 



82 MAGNETIC TREATMENT. 

cancer, a frightful foe to human life. Much good 
may be accomplished through medicinal treatment 
so far as concerns the purification of the blood, and 
sustaining the natural magnetic freedom and powers 
of resistance towards the enemy now located within, 
and affording increased activities of magnetic force to 
expedite the secretions of morbid and unnatural refuse 
matter accumulated from the growth and decay in 
progress. 

Although I have not had the opportunity to try 
this course of treatment, I will explain and give it as 
it is given to me. A strong impression comes to me 
mentally, at the same time I see clairvoyantly, the 
effect of this treatment, and am so confident that it 
would prove successful, that I should not hesitate to 
try it on myself if there were occasion to do so, as it is 
the source of nearly all I do know concerning medi- 
cal treatment and physical law, and have proved by 
actual, and practical using of that knowledge which 
has been wonderfully successful. The impression 
thus given concerning the treatment of cancer is that 
this method may be pursued when the disease is 
located where it will be practicable — that is, to freeze 
it by proper applications, so cold as to shut off circu- 
lation in the locality of the disease. Increase the cold 
for the period of ten minutes, once or twice a day, 
then simply hold it congested with cold appliances, 



MAGNETIC TREATMENT. 83 

while the circulation is increased in the general sys- 
tem and every way made active. The animalculas 
being of precarious existence, will be destroyed and 
the power of generating others will not exist, while 
at the same time the natural magnetic attractive 
force of the disease will lose its power to attract to 
itself new life, and thus it will starve as well as freeze. 
Having parted from the elements of life from which 
alone it could have been evolved, it must, according to 
the all-pervading natural law, dissolve into fluids and 
gaseous vapors, which could then be drawn to the 
surface through the excretory actions of the pores. 

Tumors of different growths where roots are 
grown of a stronger type of vegetable, may in like 
manner be frozen out and their growth suspended, 
and if there be no scrofula connected with it, they 
will shrink into smaller dimensions, and gradu- 
ally be absorbed by increased magnetic action around 
the locality of the disease. Pendulent tumors caused 
by hemorrhage of blood vessels, which is common 
in female weaknesses, when once developed be- 
come chronic, and produce a kind of blood flesh 
without nerves, and without nerves there is no natural 
circulation, and magnetism can only act by giving 
strength to the absorbents which should control the 
blood in natural channels, increased by natural circu- 
lation while applications are used to heal the broken 



MAGNETIC TREATMENT. 



blood vessels, this mode of treatment has proved suc- 
cessful in many cases, which I have treated. The blood 
should be controlled from and in accordance with the 
organic principle of life, the negative and positive 
battery, acting through its natural channels according 
to its polarized magnets, sending healing by absorp- 
tion to strengthen the weak blood vessels, and thus, 
according to the unmistakable theory referred to at 
the beginning, assisting nature. It may not be neces- 
sary to enlarge farther upon the subject, especially 
as the principle of magnetism is treated in another 
department of our work. 



THE GROWTH OF INTELLIGENCE. 



The vegetable grows from its inherent magnetic 
principle, the life germ in the heart of the seed, 
which is invisible to the naked eye or to the closest 
analysis of the scientist. No one can doubt its 
presence ; its development proves it, and all the pos- 
sibilities of the future perfect product lie hidden 
within the tiny seed, a mystery to man. 

The seed is enclosed in a shell or outer body until 
the season and conditions arrive which shall give it 
birth. As long as it is protected from air and water 
it lies dormant, or if the condition exist too long, it 
dies. Water conveys to it electricity, which with the 
oxygen in the air produces the inspiration of life. 
There is no intelligence in its work, but it is ruled 
by nature's perfect law, magnetic and electric, in the 
development of its life qualities. The great Designer 
gave it individuality, which distinguishes it from 
every other product of nature. 

The next step toward intelligence is found in 
animal life. Whether life was generated spontane- 
ously out of conditions of the earth's magnetism, 



86 THE GRO WTH OF INTELLIGENCE. 

which has power to attract and combine certain 
elements in nature, we will not now stop to consider, 
but will endeavor to follow the growth of intelligence 
through animal life up to human. 

That animal life existed for ages before the lowest 
type of humanity was developed, no one disputes. 
The imagination cannot penetrate the past, or set 
forth the conditions of life where no comparisons can 
be made nor any reasonable point for investigation 
be attained. There is enough within the scope of 
the understanding, and any speculations about " the 
missing link" and kindred topics may well be left to 
the theorising scientists, with which to build their 
miraculous castles without foundations. 

The organic law of nature is in every individual 
production, "acting in each after its own special order 
of design, from the simplest to the most complex, 
from the lowest to the highest, in the earth's devel- 
opment of life. The magnetic conceptions which 
are brought into rapport through this law, develop 
the living principles of matter, principles which exist 
by and are evolved through the action of the great 
polar magnet, in connection with the action of the 
planets in motion, which first produced the elec- 
tricity of the earth, causing eventually the earth's 
rotary motion. Without motion there would be no 
life, or without magnetism and electricity, if life were 



THE GROWTH OF INTELLIGENCE, 87 

produced, it could not continue, for the magnetic and 
and electric elements in nature are the reproductive 
forces in all life. To ignore the Divine Spirit within 
or operating through this universal law of life w^ould 
involve all nature in confusion. There is nothing, 
from the minutest atom to the completest spiritual 
development of being, which is not perfect in itself, 
being infused by that Divine Presence. Every atom 
of matter is polarized, and holds within itself its indi- 
vidual magnet, w^hich attracts that which is in har- 
mony with the individual nature of the thing, its 
wants and needs ; repelling whatever is foreign, 
hostile or useless to its growth or development. The 
power of this magnet increases steadily in strength 
and quality throughout every stage of development. 
It was in the first minute emanations that were pro- 
duced by the polar magnets and currents of electrici- 
ty which were established before any form of life 
existed, before the earth's magnetic atmosphere was 
evolved, holding within itself germs of organic life. 

The lower animals furnish magnetism for the 
grade of life next above them; the domestic animals 
furnish it in life-giving quality to man. The care 
and presence of herbivorous animals, as horses, cat- 
tle, sheep and deer, are conducive to health, for these 
animals afford a healthy magnetism which is uncon- 
sciously appropriated by the human family. It adds 



58 THE GRO WTH OF INTELLIGENCE. 

Strength to the body, and produces a soothing, quiet- 
ing influence on the mind, overcoming by the peace 
and harmony of their nature, the discordant influences 
at work in the weak and nervous human body. 

The magnetism of animals fills an important place 
in nature, from its lowest to its highest manifestations. 
The hair which covers maturely developed animals 
grows from the excess of magnetism which animals 
possess. In the human being this excess is absorbed 
by the spiritual body, which it feeds, all its finer 
qualities being extracted by the spirit. In those 
cases where men have reverted to a wild state, when 
reason becomes confused and conscious identity is 
lost, they become human animals merely, the mag- 
netic connection between the animal and spiritual 
being almost severed. They become able to endure 
exposure; the physical strength increases; the teeth 
grow longer, and hair grows all over the body from 
this unusual excess of magnetism. The man lives 
within the animal realm, without instinct for providing 
natural protection, exhibiting a wild exuberance of 
life, without the unerring instinct of animals, or the 
guidance of human reason. 

The magnetism of the earth sustains the magnet- 
ism of animals on its surface, and all have a limited 
existence as a race. When the earth no longer 
furnishes magnetism for their species they die out 



THE GRO WTH OF INTELLIGENCE. 89 

and higher types of animal intelligence take their 
place. The animal nature has reached its highest 
possible development in man, and the law ends in 
him — its highest fulfillment. 

The gross material forms a body for the highest 
intelligence, which resides in the intellectual spirit 
brain, and intellectual advancement receives its 
impulse from the spirit organization. As all material 
things have grown up through seons of development, 
the spiritual organization of man must progress by 
the universal law. Race after race carries on the 
work, and in this age spirituality is a ruling power in 
this land where freedom of thought has loosened the 
iron bonds of superstition. The soul of man is free 
to work out its own salvation from ignorance and 
bigotry, and come to birth into the higher life. True 
inspiration wells up from past ages to the receptive 
spirit living in this. As the sun draws the magnet- 
ism of the earth upward, so the spirit draws to itself 
the lessons of past ages, trailing them along through 
all its future upward progress. When the soul 
awakes in the dawn of a new life, free from material 
environments, in realms of higher thought and 
clearer vision, the meaning of life will stand revealed, 
and the spiritual energies will be quickened by intel- 
lectual progress. The life that lies beyond this 
sphere cannot be realized while the spirit brain is so 



90 THE GEO WTH OF INTELLIGENCE. 

closely in sympathy with the material world. Every 
glimmer of light that has pierced the mental dark- 
ness of the world has met with efforts to quench its 
beams. ''It does move!" was the soul's conscious 
cry of poor persecuted Galileo when his persecutors 
forced him to deny his convictions of truth. Every 
martyr to truth echoes the cry. The world has 
progressed beyond the cruel power of the inquisition, 
but the sting of scorn remains for those who go out 
of the beaten track to enunciate new truths for the 
benefit of mankind. 

The thinking spirit, whose ideas are in accord- 
ance with its education and culture, has power to 
express thought in language, thus giving a body to 
the idea and furnishing food for other minds. Where 
a strong magnetic current is thrown out with the 
words an impression is made which carries convic- 
tion to the consciousness, and truth, according to the 
soul's power of discernment, is made manifest. 
As earth's first productions were merely a foundation 
for higher life, so creeds, theories, and formulas have 
served but to lift the thought and intelligence of man 
as near to truth as the age in which they flourished 
was capable of receiving. The next age takes up 
the thought, and with added magnetic power draws 
the mind still farther onward and upward, dispelling 
mysteries, and bringing a 'clearer light to human 



THE GROWTH OF INTELLIGENCE. 91 

understanding. The past shows the steps of child- 
hood and youth. As nature steadily unfolds her 
plan in progressive spiritual development, there 
should be every possible encouragement given to 
mental and spiritual growth, and for study and 
investigation of spiritual laws. "Prove all things; 
hold fast that which is good." 



Stoe IBoit^ of %^\uxz. 

But coming ages will to all unfold 
The wisdom that no mortal tongue hath told. 
This life is but a rudimental sphere; 
We barely learn our ignorance while here. 
Yet hope is born with unattained desires, 
And to immortal life each soul aspires. 
In this important truth, all tongues agree. 
That man was made for immortality. 
Death kindly comes and opens wide the door. 
And lights our passage to the golden shore. 
Oblivion spans the gulf while on we tread 
The silent pathway of the living dead. 
Then let earth join with aspirations high; 
Proclaim this glorious truth, we never die. 
The fields of thought that bafifle modern lore 
We in our march of progress will explore. 
The highest aspirations of the soul 



q2 THE GROWTH OF INTELLIGENCE. 

Will more than be attained as ages roll. 
The stellar worlds of beauty, wide and grand, 
Will be our walks of pleasure to command. 

Amid these rapturous scenes we^U hie to earth, 

To childhood's home — the land that gave us birth. 

Our friends who yet remain will need our care 

While they a little longer linger there* 

We'll prove that we yet live and love them still — 

And though unseen kind offices will fill. 

O, yes! we'll come the human race to cheer 

Wherever earth is watered by a tear. 

The mother comes to bless her infant boy, 

To guard the tender bud with holy joy; 

Her love so pure on earth is not defiled, 

But with a mother's love she loves her child. 

The brittle thread of life cannot divide, 

For angel friends are often by your side. 

Thus heaven and earth are joined in happy twain, 

And in this glorious union will remain. 

How wise, how great, how wonderful the plan! 

A boundless field for universal man. 

Warren Sumner Barlow. 



A SPIRIT INDIVIDUALITY. 



There is a natural body and there is a spirit body. 
Each body is an independent individuality, having an 
organic law of its own. The natural body with 
its animal instincts and necessities belongs to the 
material world. It is satisfied with rest, sufficient 
food, warmth, a sense of comfort and resembles in all 
its needs and manifestations animals of a high order 
of development. It grows from nourishment derived 
from vegetable and animal life, becomes old, decays 
and dies. It can be analyzed, its component parts 
separated, and their various substances defined. But 
the life principle which held this material mass in a 
state of continually changing activities, defies analysis 
or definition. When it loosens its grasp of the 
natural bod}" the component substances disintegrate, 
dissolve and return to their original elements in 
material nature. But the spirit body, what and where 
is it ? It cannot be vapor, electricity, or any of the 
principles of the atmosphere, because a spirit body 
necessitates a brain organization with intelligence 
and will, to supply its needs, and forecast its progress 
and its destinv. 



94 A SPIRIT INDIVIDUALITY. 

There is a natural body and there is a spirit 
body living, growing and developing in every human 
organism; the animal and spiritual, two bodies, two 
brains and two individualities. This dual condition 
is peculiar to man. No other creature exhibits the 
spiritual qualities or manifests the same spiritual 
possibilities. As the natural or material body has its 
brain which controls and regulates the animal func- 
tions so the spirit body is furnished with its seat of 
power, the intellectual brain. This spirit brain be- 
longs to the spirit body and when the separation 
takes place betw^een the two bodies it retains all its 
functions in perfect activit3^ The natural body being 
the source from which the spiritual body derives its 
substance, acts strongly upon the spiritual sympathies 
through its necessities and weaknesses and powerful 
ties are formed between the two. 

The spiritual body is an invisible essence, and the 
intellectual brain is connected with the emotional 
nature, or is dual with the emotional sense of feeling 
through which happiness or unhappiness comes to 
our recognition. The sympathetic correspondence 
from the emotional nerve centre creates impressions 
slight or intense according to the development of 
each organ of the intelligent brain. The spiritual 
nature, the soul, is more remote from sensation, having 
no adequate means of communication with the outer 



A SPIRIT INDIVIDUALITY. 95 

world and no relations with earth life to excite and 
stimulate spiritual growth. Spiritual food must be 
as real for perfect development as food for the natural 
body, or intelligent education for practical use. The 
ideal religious sentiment of the day places spiritual 
growth in the far future, ignoring the fact that every 
need in human nature holds sympathetic relations 
with that which must satisfy the demand. Faith 
without knowledge does not satisfy the desire of the 
soul. It is liable to change when new interpretations, 
new theories and fresh arguments are presented, be- 
cause it has no anchor in proven realities. Those 
who look for or believe in a revelation from God, as 
from a being outside of themselves, ignore the spirit 
within, which dwells in spheres of thought and 
emotion, ready to be inspired by the grandeur and 
harmony of the universe, pure, perfect, and fitted for 
all grades of life. " Know thyself " was a command 
inspired by a higher development of spiritual life- 
The light of intelligence is the only guide to spiritual 
discernment. 

The power to study and investigate that which is 
within lies dormant while men seek knowledge by 
means outside of natural law. Whatever conclusions 
they arrive at, their truth cannot be proved, and the 
mind is filled with imaginary theories which hinder 
progress in the way of truth. 



96 A SPIRIT INDIVIDUALITY. 

The identity of the spirit body, its present relations 
and combinations in the trinity of our being, is more 
important knowledge to this age than a knowledge 
of the conditions of a future life. 

The search after truth should begin with the 
lowest grade of life, studying it in all its forms and 
phases, vegetable, animal, and the human, which 
holds within itself the highest grade of intelligence 
and the most complete perfection of material life. 
More patient study will reveal within the human, the 
angel, the spiritual person, higher than all other 
earthly creatures, a being which grasps on one side 
the earthy, on the other, the divine, a denizen of two 
worlds, and one of them a spiritual and immortal 
world. 

When death approaches, a conscious reality of 
spirit life takes hold of the senses. The spirit begins to 
judge itself, through the activity of memory. Every 
virtue shines brighter, every fault casts a shadow. 
It grows penitent as the magnetism of the body 
loosens its grasp. A prayer bursts from the soul's 
deep emotions of "God forgive!" The spirit be- 
comes conscious of its true moral condition, what it 
has gained or lost of purity and strength through 
earth associations and the educating influence of 
physical suffering and the restraining laws of physi- 
cal life, and it carries wdth it a sense of moral de- 



A SFJRI T INDI VID UA LIT Y. 97 

gradation and loss, or the inspiring sense of higher 
spiritual qualities. 

God has so created man that by means of the 
physical body, a spiritual being is developed, from 
the lowest form of life upward, through every grade. 
Qualities of earth and air and water, substances 
visible and invisible, are absorbed by man and incor- 
porated into his system by the action of the great 
Mind which directs, controls and molds all things to 
His will. The law by which He acts lies within man's 
province to investigate and understand ; and the grand 
result of these processes, a spiritual being, m.ay be- 
come a conscious fact in his experience and know- 
ledge. He can become aware that this spirit-body 
and brain can be cultivated and its capacity for more 
independent manifestation increased. Spirit is the 
ruling principle over all. The immortal spirit shall 
put all things under his feet, and the last thing to be 
put under his feet is death. There is no death for 
the spirit, which, when separated from all perishable 
forms is lord over all, governing and understanding 
all the forces through which it has passed up to the 
purely spiritual plane. The spirit is not disem- 
bodied, but is clothed with such endowments as hold 
the same relation to the intellectual and emotional 
natures as do the physical endowments of the material 
body through which they manifest themselves in 



A SPIRIT INDIVIDUALITY. 



earth life. It has the same understanding, the clear 
and quick perception or the dull and slow compre- 
hension of new ideas. It is characterized by the 
same temper and disposition, is attracted and repelled 
by the same objects, and has the same prejudices as 
in earth life. Strong prejudices and bigotry are like 
prison bars to the spirit, forged on earth and carried 
as an inheritance into the spirit life. Those who 
have lived in the faith of something higher, wiser 
and purer than themselves, thus acknowledging their 
own needs and weakness, are drawn upward into the 
realms of spiritual being, instead of groveling in the 
low animal instincts of the body. Even in the earth 
life, as refining processes go on, an improved habita- 
tion becomes necessary for the spirit. The society 
of better thoughts and purer aspirations makes the 
old impure associations repulsive, and new and purer 
ones are formed. The spiritual nature is disgusted 
with the uncleanliness of the physical body and its 
surroundings and insists on a change. Tobacco, 
beer, whisky, vulgarity, are refused admittance 
while the body is nourished from pure and natural 
sources and satisfied with what is necessary for 
health without stimulating the lower brain to excesses 
which rob the mental and spiritual brain and degrade 
the moral sense. 



A SPIRIT INDIVIDUALITY. 99 

For everything which has degraded the spirit he 
suffers remorse and humihation when standing alone 
in judgment with himself. Memory appeals to him 
with her indelible record wherein appears the oppor- 
tunities for good or for ill, and all the influence exerted 
upon others. He is judged only by his conscience, 
which feels the weight of sin and cries out against the 
sinner, who receives credit for every good deed done 
and for every good motive, all of which lighten the 
dark shadows of sin. How happy would be the 
new-born spirit if there were no sorrows of his caus- 
ing in the world, if the mistakes of life even had been 
rectified as far as possible before passing on into 
spirit life. As long as a wrong remains to be an 
injur}^ to any on earth, no forgiveness by any one not 
aflflicted by the wrong can remove the sting of con- 
science. To undo, or remove the wrong is the onl}^ 
way to righteousness and peace. When the laws of 
God throughout nature Hnk cause and effect together, 
why should we expect an entire change for the 
benefit of evil doers? 

Teachers of and belivers in the Christ, at an age of 
the world when symbols were necessary to impress the 
mind with the lesson of a higher worship than that of 
idols, pointed to the visible sign of one on the cross 
and sent the mind after him when he had risen from 
the tomb of the bod}^ a spirit that had gone to dwell 



A SPIRIT INDIVIDUALITY. 



with the loved ones across the border. A magnetic 
current of thought from the heart of every sincere 
lover of truth, purity and goodness attaches itself to 
any vital spiritual example held up before our mental 
vision, which attracts our sympathies and leads the 
thought above the earth into the heaven's pure 
atmosphere. To follow this current and profit by it 
we must live in its influence, battling with tempta- 
tions, overcoming obstacles and inherited tendencies, 
and strengthening the moral qualities by the practice 
of virtue. We may overcome objectionable traits of 
character by letting them die out from lack of uSe 
and by sowing the seed of better qualities in their 
places. When the character is thus trained and 
developed magnetic attractions grow stronger with 
that inner self, that indwelling spirit existence whose 
conscious identity is made manifest through the 
emotional center, the seat of the heart's pure feeling, 
through which heaven within is realized, or the pain 
of an ill spent life, lost opportunities and the retarded 
growth of the soul is felt. 

From this center, the connecting link between the 
mortal and the immortal, comes all our hope of an 
existence without a material body. When friends 
disappear from earth life, envy, hatred and malice, 
the fruit of strife, jealousies and injuries disappear, 
gradually fading and losing their poignant sting. 



A SPIRIT INDIVIDUALITY. 



A gentler feeling creeps into the heart, softening the 
harsh judgments and filling the soul with charity and 
love, because the soul follows them into the spirit 
life and the spirit is only in sympathy, with and 
attracted by the higher order of life in active judg- 
ment. And that higher order sends back a warning, 
"Judge not lest ye be judged," in the same spirit. 

An argument is often maintained with animation 
between the spiritual brain and the animal intelli- 
gence with its strong desire for preferment. The 
still small voice of conscience, the accusing, pleading 
spirit asks for better conditions for its developmetit 
in the body, from which its elements of growth are 
derived. 

The spirit-brain receives its inspiration from the 
intellectual, as education, character and pursuits 
fashion the growing mind for this world's uses. 
From its pure or gross elements, the spirit organi- 
zation is nourished, and pure, bright, intelligent 
spirits are born into immortal life, or gross, dark, 
undeveloped ones must grow up through the mists 
and darkness surrounding them, which is the moral 
atmosphere of their being. To be saved from this 
moral degradation and misery in another state of 
existence, one must first be saved in this. Each 
must work out his own salvation by living a pure 
aud natural life according to God's laws. Let the 



A SPIRIT INDIVIDUALITY. 



soul expand and drink in the elixir of everlasting life 
from the great fountain of nature's providing, in the 
power and glory everywhere displayed for the 
instruction of all souls in the knowledge of God's 
love, manifested both to the spiritual and the material 
senses. 

Nature, with its beauty, its delicate perfumes and 
flavors; life with its companionships and friendships; 
the perfect law, under which nothing comes into exist- 
ence from the minutest atom to the most highly devel- 
oped of earth's productions without a perfect order in 
itself, fitting it for its place in the economy of nature's 
order; all show forth the benignant Fatherhood 
and the perfection of His law. This knowledge 
should inspire the thought of God's presence every- 
where and in all things, and tend to elevate and 
purify the spiritual in man. "The pure in heart 
shall see God " in the bright morning of life and in 
the shadows of death alike, as the inspirer of all life 
and the guide in the search after truth, through the 
visions of earth and the higher aspirations for 
Heaven. 

Provision is made for the lawful demands and 
enjoyments of the natural body, while at the same 
time the spirit is developing its organization and is 
brought into sympathy with the heavens above and 
the earth beneath by a harmonious blending of the 



A SPIRIT INDIVIDUALITY. 103 

influences from each; drawing from within and from 
without vitality and knowledge, and thus creating a 
sympathy and relationship with the God of nature — 
that great fountain of spirit which is all in all of Hfe's 
strange and grand mystery. So the spiritual in man 
grows up through all, in the earth life, through death 
conquers all, and in the spirit life is become 
lord of all. 



EVIL IN HUMAN NATURE. 



Evil spirits, evil men and women, are as natural 
as good spirits and good men and women, as all act 
from inherent natural qualities. Character is the 
effect of causes, some of which may have been trans- 
mitted from parent to child for generations. Every 
member of the human family is a creature of circum- 
stances. Certain conditions have influence on the 
general mind in every age; parental characteristics 
may not blend harmoniously, incidents and accidents 
may have excited combative elements or unnatural 
appetites, all of which combine to vary individual 
character, making it according to our standard either 
good or bad. 

" 'Tis education forms the common mind. 
Just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined." 

And the education and bending of the human being 
begins in the first conditions of life. As the being 
develops into maturity, the fruit of that nature 
appears. Often the inclination to do evil is stronger 
than the power of resistance, and all the attractive 
allurements of vice hold magnetic attractions with the 



io6 E VIL IN HUMAN NA TURK. 

evil within. A certain kind of happiness is derived 
from vicious gratification, although it is injurious in 
its influences, as natural to the evil-minded as a 
virtuous happiness is to the good. 

It is not just to deal with one side of human 
nature alone, nor to expect wholly to eradicate evil in 
the nature after it is born. It is well to cultivate the 
higher moral qualities, and so retard the growth of 
evil by absorbing life's activities and applying them 
to the highest uses. But when the evil once is 
rooted in the nature and finds appropriate food for its 
development in the external world, who can wonder 
that it flourishes? 

Which is the strong party to-day, those who 
favor liquor selling or those who oppose it? Not- 
withstanding its evils, and in spite of the great army 
fighting against it, its strength seems almost invinci- 
ble. Many of those who are opposed to the liquor 
traflSc have suffered from its blighting influence; their 
children or friends have been carried away on its 
mighty tide. What will effectually stay its progress? 
The appetite must not be born. Who are the evil, 
they who plant the seed, or they who reap the 
harvest? Who should suffer remorse, he who 
stumbles, or he who places the obstacle in the path 
of the unwary? It would be as reasonable to 
expect a tree to bear good fruit while an insect was 



E VJL IN HUMAN NA TURE. 107 



eating away its heart as to expect to see the fruit of 
good character from the germs of evil, fed and made 
active by conditions of society which are demoraliz- 
ing to the good, and the natural food of the evil 
in human nature. 

The spirit of evil is in the seed, and its fruit is 
scattered over the world. The appetite for gold is 
like that of a hungry wolf. With its attractive show 
wealth draws the heart of the world, and its power 
grows and increases in the heart and soul of man 
until his nature becomes as adamant. Its promises 
of luxury, and pomp, and power lure men to their 
destruction, exacting in its service every thought and 
effort, and making of itself the only star of hope that 
points the way to happiness. 

There are grades of good and evil in the masses 
who follow any pursuit. Some will reach the goal 
of success and preserve a high moral tone; others, 
moderately successful, seek, perhaps, lower avenues 
of life, and follow less lofty ideals; while still others, 
craving what the successful man has gained by the 
inherent talent he possesses, will seek to attain it by 
fraud and cunning, by theft and murder, under the 
rule of the evil in their nature. Caste in religion is 
one of the untoward influences in the religious world 
of to-day. The majority of mankind are poor in 
worldly goods; and while the grand and beautiful 



io8 E VIL IN HUMAN NA TURK. 

churches are accessible to the wealthy with their 
natural pride and arrogance, the poor who possess a 
pride as great are excluded, unless they are willing 
humbly to eat the crumbs which fall from the rich 
man's table. There is little genuine human fellow- 
ship; the spirit of Christ is not perceived, and, there- 
fore, it is not believed in. But the Good Spirit often 
does its work silently, in deeds, not in words, 
through the agency of those whom the rehgious world 
counts as lost. 

Will the mistakes of this world be rectified in 
another? Will the errors of the ignorant be counted 
against them? Will those who have been buried in 
the drifts, be saved? Who will save them? When 
the light of reason rules the spirit of love and 
truth will triumph over evil, and they that sow the 
seed and they that reap the harvest in this world 
will work together in the next as friend and neighbor, 
for the good of all. 



EVIL IN HUMAN NA TURE. 109 



I beheld a golden portal in the visions 
of my slumber, 
And through it streamed the radiance of a 
never setting day; 
While angels tall and beautiful, and countless 
without number, 
Were giving gladsome greeting to all who 
came that way. 
And the gates, forever swinging, made no grating, 
no harsh ringing, 
Melodeous as the singing of one that we adore; 
And I heard a chorus swelling, grand beyond 
a mortal's telling; 
And the burden of that chorus was hope's glad 
word, " Evermore." 

And as I gazed and listened, came a slave all 
worn and weary, 
His fetter-links blood-rusfed, his dark brow cold 
and damp ; 
His sunken eyes gleamed wildly, telling tales of 
horror dreary, 
Of toilsome struggles through the night amid the 
fever-swamp. 
Ere the eye had time for winking, — ere the mind had 
time for thinking, 
A bright angel raised the sinking wretch and off 
his fetters tore. 



E VI L IJV HUMAN NA TURE. 



Then I heard the chorus swelling, grand 
beyond a mortal's telling — 
" Pass, O brother ! through our portals; thou'rt 
a freeman Evermore." 

And as I gazed and listened came a mother, 
wildly weeping — 
" I have lost my hopes forever ; one by one they 
went away ; 
My children and their father the cold grave 
hath in keeping ; 
Life is one long lamentation ; I know nor night 
nor day! " 
Then the angel, softly speaking, " Stay, sister, 
stay thy shrieking ; 
Thou shalt find those thou art seeking beyond 
that golden door." 
Then I heard a chorus swelling, grand beyond 
a mortal's telling, — " Thy children and their 
Father shall be with thee Evermore." 

And as I gazed and listened, came a cold, 
blue-footed maiden, 
With cheeks of ashen whiteness, eyes filled with 
lurid light. 
Her body bent with sickness, her lone heart 
heavy laden; 
Her home had been the roofless street ; her day 
had been the night. 
First wept the angel sadly; then smiled the angel 
gladly, 
And caught the maiden madly rushing from the 
golden door. 



E VIL IN HUMAN NA TURK, 



Then I heard the chorus swelling, grand beyond 
a mortal's telling, — 
" Enter sister, thou art pure, and thou art sinless 
Evermore." 

I saw the toiler enter to rest for aye from labor ; 
The weary-hearted exile there found his native 
land ; 
The beggar there could greet the king as equal 
and as neighbor, — 
The crown had left the kingly brow, the staff the 
beggar's hand; 
And the gates, forever swinging, made no grating, 
no harsh ringing, 
Melodeous as the singing of one whom we adore; 
And the chorus still was swelling, grand beyond 
a mortal's telling, 
While the vision faded from me with the glad 
word, '^Evermore." 

Anon. 



WHAT AM I? 



With the knowledge we possess, this is a difficult 
question to answer. Our visible forms are subject 
to changes, for they are constantly throwing oft the 
old dead atoms from which the life has been with- 
drawn and are as constantly being renewed. In time 
this body will be dissolved and returned to earth, to 
be received into other growths with no resemblance 
to that which marks its present order. It is mine 
while it is with me, but it is not I. 

The spirit body which has developed from the 
living magnetism of the material body is still an 
emanation of earth life and subject to the law of 
change. It is mine while it is necessary to me, but it 
is not I. 

Can I be identified of myself? The various 
organs of mentality have each a mission, and hold 
their relative positions within my world as guards, 
instructors, promptors, mechanical work shops of 
music and art. Each acts from and in sympathy 
with the emotional nature which is nearest to I. 
Each organ is incited to action by appeals appropriate 



114 WHAT AM 1? 



to its function. For example, if benevolence is denied 
expression and its natural sympathies held in subjec- 
tion by avarice, the emotional nature which is always 
on the side of justice sympathises with benevolence 
by a sense of humiliation, while avarice triumphs in 
the sense of successful greed. Veneration is not a 
very definable organ, because it borrows much from 
self-esteem, conscientiousness, and ideality. With 
our present education its influence expands beyond 
its natural limits; it becomes fanatical by its assurance 
and checks progress by its self-sufficiency. To attain 
any degree of excellence the intellectual nature must 
be cultivated; mechanical genius must be developed 
by cultivating the organs of constructiveness, etc. I 
stand back of all, and, like a general, review my army 
and mark the strength of each division. I make 
reason my adjutant, who reports the strength of each 
organ that I may judge whether in my army there is 
sufficient force and intelUgence to accomplish my 
objects. When reason reports adversely, a sense of 
disappointment comes over me affecting the emotional 
nerve center which is near the heart. Then all the 
sympathetic life forces meet and effect more directly 
my conscious identity. This emotional center is the 
strongest tie between physical and spirit life. When 
we part from friends the depth of our affection is 
shown by the strength of the emotional feeling, and 



WHAT AM I? lis 



when we part from the physical body it is the last 
tie to be broken. 

When the spirit, with all its associations with the 
work and friends of a life time, is torn asunder from 
the body, to go where? to be what? it is not the pain 
but the mysterious change, a nameless dread that 
fills the soul with fear. When all pain is over and 
all sensations of the body have ceased, the wires 
over which communications come to me are broken. 
Earthly visions fade, the last parting is over. Hope 
shines brighter as death draws near and I exclaim 
with the Hindoo, " If thou art death, draw near; I 
hold thee as a friend. Thou canst but take this 
worn-out dress from me, I shall snatch eternal life 
from thee." I shall still be clothed and have the 
same emotional nature through which love to God 
and man may be expressed. 



DEATH. HOW AND WHY. 



Spiritual Things Must be Spiritually Dis- 
cerned. 



"Some have the gift of discerning spirits." 

"Why, what is death 
But life in other forms of being? Life without 
The dull and momently-decaying frame that holds 
The etherial spirit in, and binds it down 

To'^brotherhood with brutes. There's no such thing as death. 
What's called so is but the beginning; a fresh segment in 
The eternal round of change." 



SPIRITS WHO ARE DISEMBODIED OF THE PHYSICAL 
MATTER FORM. 



THE VISIBLE EARTHLY COVERING OF THE SPIRIT. 



While standing by the bed-side of a young girl whose 
spirit was leaving the material body, after a short 
illness, of a malignant character, my spiritual sight 
was directed to the process of the separation, which 
was to my sight and understanding as real as any 
other object presented to the natural vision. This 
young girl had developed early in life, having attained 



ii8 DEATH, HOW AND WHY. 

full growth at the age of eighteen, large, full healthy 
form, which had not wasted away through a week's 
illness. Her young life was full of magnetism, the 
spirit of life. A growing inspiration filled her young 
life with love for all the beautiful things of earth. 
Hope's bright star shone brighter as she developed 
into life's realities. Death came to her through the 
delirium of fever, and without realizing the change 
she became separated from her earth body, a spirit 
child of eighteen summers. The growth of the 
spirit form developes more slowly, being controlled 
and fed through the intellectual and emotional, and 
as the separation gradually progressed from the 
extremities I saw the spirit body contract, with- 
drawing from the flesh leaving the feet cold, the 
hands, arms, limbs until life centered around the 
heart and base of the brain, and the spinal cord, 
which gradually loosened its hold. The magnet 
from the spirit lost power to connect with the animal 
magnet controling material life and withdrew its 
forces, which had permeated the physical body, con- 
tracting into smaller dimensions, according to the 
growth of the spirit. The strength of the attachment, 
almost equally strong, extended the whole length 
of the spine, showing that while the material body 
was growing rapidty, the magnetism was doing its 
work in the body, and not in the brain; and after the 



DEA TH, HO W AND WHY. 



119 



body had attained its full natural growth, and the 
spiritual began its development in acquiring knowl- 
edge, strength of character and mental endurance, 
the magnet was directed and controlled b}^ the will 
or mentality, the body a frame work through 
which the spirit maintained earth conditions, and 
drew from it its spiritual life. The spirit body of the 
young girl, when withdrawn from the larger develop- 
ment of the physical, was less than two-thirds in size; 
her spirit remained in the form passive until the heat 
of fever subsided, and the emotional magnet of the 
spiritual was severed by the gradual decomposition of 
material life. 

Another case of matured manhood, where the 
physical body had attained full growth for thirt}^- 
iive years, being sixty-six years old at his death. 
This man had an education superior to many, and had 
filled high places of honor and responsibility. The 
intellectual brain overtasked in political strife, and 
the emotional sympathies nearly exhausted by con- 
stant anxiety, the equilibrium of the two bodies 
was lost, and the result was apoplexy and partial 
paralysis, when an unusual and sudden movement of 
the physical strength was exerted. There was a 
paralyzed condition of the throat and right side; the 
left side and heart being free, consciousness was 
restored, while the slow process of the dying nerves 



I20 DEATH, HOW AND WHY. 

was sapping the vitality already received from 
natural magnetism; the blood settling around the 
heart and brain, as the electric wires were broken, 
and the magnet powerless; the mind retained a 
degree of consciousness until the spirit magnet had 
withdrawn its forces through the emotional sense, the 
last chord that binds the soul and body together. 
And while the feeble current between heart and the 
spirit's magnetic power gradually lost influence, the 
spirit body and brain became separate identities, the 
one a living quickening soul, the other a mold of 
earth. The spirit brain never lost consciousness, and 
he suffered no physical pain, as the sensitive nerves 
had lost their sense of feeling. When entirely free, 
after forty-eight hours, his spiritual condition was 
perfected. 

Another prominent business man at the same age 
of sixty-six, whose physical form was large and full 
of animal magnetism, was suddenly stricken down 
with apoplexy and complete paralysis. Every nerve 
center lost its polarization, all sensation between the 
spirit brain and physical body stopped in a moment. 
He was placed on ice before any sign of decomposi- 
tion of the body took place, thereby retarding the 
separation, by preserving the magnetic life in the 
blood and tissues, which, held by its natural law, 
Ijlended with the spiritual form the two bodies as one 



DEATH, HOW AND WHY. 



until all magnetic life had become exhausted and the 
animal magnetism evaporated, seeking new life cur- 
rents. After the spirit body and physical body had 
become free from each other there remained four 
attachments from the lower brain like white cords, but 
of different size, and one larger cord from the heart, or 
emotional gland, shown to be a quarter of an inch in 
diameter; while those from the lower brain were much 
smaller — the connecting magnetic wires of the spirit- 
ual and natural bodies. It was twenty hours longer 
before the spirit was free from the physical body, and 
consciousness restored to the intelHgence of the spirit 
brain. 

In all sudden deaths or inanimate conditions of the 
physical body, the slow process of the dying in the 
material body must go on before a separation would 
be possible according to nature's laws. The burial 
of soldiers after a battle involves the burial of the 
spirit with it, until the animal magnetism releases its 
hold upon the spiritual. Whether they are conscious 
of being buried I do not know. It has been shown 
that there have been instances where the person 
buried has come to consciousness and changed 
position. 



DEA TH, HO W AND WHY. 



^MaXlatx^B l^jessage from garajfliBje. 



He who died at Aziiii sends 
This to comfort all his friends: 

Faithful friends, it lies, I know, 
Pale and white and cold as snow; 
And ye say, " Abdaliah's dead," 
Weeping at the feet and head, 
I can see your falling tears; 
I can hear your sighs and pra3^ers, 
Yet I smile and whisper this : 
" I am not the thing you kiss, 
Cease your tears, and let it lie; 
It was mine. It is not I." 

Sweet friends, what the women lave 

For the last sleep of the grave, 

Is a hut which I am quitting; 

Is a garment no more fitting; 

Is a cage from which at last. 

Like a bird my soul hath passed. 

Love the inmate, not the room ; 

The wearer, not the garb; the plume 

Of the eagle, not the bars 

That keep him from those splendid stars. 



DEATH, HOW AND WHY. 123 



Loving friends, be wise, and dry 
Straightway every weeping eye. 
What ye lift upon the bier 
Is not worth a single tear. 
'Tis an empty sea-shell, one 
Out of which the pearl has gone ; 
The shell is broken, it lies there; 
The pearlj the all, the soul is here. 
'Tis an earthen jar, whose lid 
Allah sealed the while it hid 
That treasure of his treasury, — 
A mind that loved him, let it lie; 
Let the shard be earth's once more, 
Since the gold is in his store. 

Allah, glorious! Allah, good! 
Now thy world is understood; 
Now the long, long wonder ends; 
Yet ye weep my erring friends. 
While the man whom ye call dead, 
In unspoken bliss, instead, 
Lives and loves you; lost, 'tis true; 
For the light that shines for you, 
But in the light ye cannot see. 
Of undisturbed felicity, — 
In a perfect paradise. 
And a life that never dies. 



24 DEATH, HOW AND WHY. 



Farewell, friends! But not farewell; 
Where I am, ye too, shall dwell, 
I am gone before your face, 
A moment's worth, a little space. 
Ye will know by true love taught. 
That here is all, and there is naught. 
Weep awhile if ye are pain, — 
Sunshine still must follow rain; 
Only not at death, — for death. 
Now we know, is that first breath 
Which our souls draw when we enter 
Life which is of all life center. 

Be ye certain all seems love, 

Viewed from Allah's throne above; 

Be ye stout of heart and come 

Bravely onward to your home; 

La-il Allah! Allah la! 

O love divine! O love alway! 

He who died at Azim gave 

This to those who who made his grave. 

From the Arabic. Translated by Rev. G. H. Houghton. 



MOURNING FOR THE DEAD. 



Shall we mourn for the dead? Yes, if they are 
worth mourning for. Where and who are the dead? 
Not the body from which the living spirit with its 
imperishable individualit}^ has escaped. Even that 
refuse thrown off from the immortal spirit is not 
dead. Its conditions are rapidly changed; it passes 
into the air in gases, returns to the earth in dews, 
crumbles to dust, and is absorbed by nature's activi- 
ties and remolded to other forms. 

Is it right to mourn for the dead? We may 
indeed mourn for those who are dead to truth and to 
progress, for those who are seeking knowledge 
among vain and fanciful myths and shadows, over 
whom ages may pass before they will feel the quick- 
ening power of inspiration, and arise into a true life. 
We may mourn for those who are dead in ignorance 
and superstition, who wander forever in a circle,, 
never upward and onward. For these we may 
mourn, and strive to unlock their doors of death and 
let in upon them the reviving light of truth. These 
dormant souls must be aroused to activity, and their 



126 MOURNING FOR THE DEAD. 

torpid energies awakened by penetrating their obtuse 
understandings with strong currents of electric 
thought which will arouse them to a higher ambition. 
Those who are dead to a sense of life's true needs must 
undergo a thorough shaking up, or, like dregs, they 
will settle to the bottom and remain stationary. For 
these afflictions, tumults, and sorrow are often 
sources of help, and rouse the slothful soul to the dis- 
covery of its possibilities, when it becomes a giant to 
conquer the obstacles which may lie in the path 
toward a high position. 

Life is a constantly changing world without end. 
Yesterday, to-day, and to-morrow are unlike, but 
there is one grand principle governing in the uni- 
verse whose infinite power nothing can change. 
Every moment brings forth its buds of promise, its 
hopes and its joys. Time, in its ceaseless rounds, 
weaves and unravels life by natural growth and 
decay, but every individual atom is held by the same 
law and will be governed the same, whether a world 
or a woman, a babe or an angel, for all are revolving 
in this great circle of life which knows no beginning 
or end. Nothing is lost but the dross of life. All 
that holds a spark of immortality in its heart lives on 
in spheres of light and love and feels the great pulsa- 
tions of harmony and peace. 



MOURNING FOR THE DEAD. 127 

When these dead come into the light, and 
develop their God-given nature from life's true center, 
they will learn that the dead can be raised only 
through the revivifying influence of spirituality. 
Therefore we will not mourn for the dead, but labor 
for them that they may live. 



^0UT ^ar from %zxz to gtieaoen ? 



How far from here to Heaven? 

Not very far, my friend ; 
A single hearty step 

Will all thy journey end. 

Hold there! where runnest thou; 

Know Heaven is in thee? 
Seek'st thou God elsewhere, 

His face thou'lt never see. 

Go out! God will go in; 

Die, then, and let him live; 
Be not, and He will be; 

Wait, and He'll all things give. 

I don't believe in death ; 

If hour by hour I die, 
'Tis hour by hour to gain 

A better life thereby. 

Angei.us Silesius — 1629. 



WHAT IS AN INFLUENCE? 



What is this [influence which comes to me, and 
directs my mind, my sight, my hearing, leads me 
where there is need of help, shows me what I should 
do in order to relieve suffering, and speaks words of 
comfort to those in distress? Why does it come to 
me more than some others? 

In a sermon written by the Rev. Daniel March, 
D. D. ; published in his book entitled " Night Scenes 
in the Bible," he says, in the chapter on the angel's 
liberating Peter from prison: 

" When we mingle with the multitude on the 
crowded street, and hear the roar of business, and 
the toil and pleasure that surges through all chan- 
nels of the great city from morning till evening, it 
seems as if man and earth were everything, and that 
there can be no real life, or intelligence, or power out- 
side of this visible, material world in which we all 
now live, and move, and have our being. 

All these natural and unmistakable impressions 
conspire to narrow the range of our thought and 
shut us up to the society and home and occupation of 



I30 WHA T IS AN INFL UENCE ? 

man alone. It is, therefore, a startling and a salu- 
tary disclosure of Divine revelation that we are not 
the only intelligent actors in the busy scenes of daily 
life which surround us. 

There are more listening persons in the crowd 
than any human observer can count. There are 
more listeners in public assemblies than can be seen 
by the speaker's eye. There is no solitude of earth 
where we may not have unseen companionship of 
beings that think, and feel, and work more mightily 
and constantly than ourselves. And these invisible 
unembodied partners of our toil and sharers of our 
spiritual life have sometimes stepped forth from 
behind the curtain that hides the unseen world, to 
show us that we may have witnesses of our conduct 
when we think ourselves most alone. We have only 
to turn to the Sacred Record to learn that these — 
and mighty ones, whose home is in some far distant 
world — have borne an active part, both in the com- 
mon and in the great events of this world which we 
call ours. They have taken the form of men, and 
shown themselves to human eyes, and spoken aloud 
in the language of the earth. They made their 
appearance on the lonely mountain top, on the storm- 
beaten ship at sea, in the streets of the city, on the 
hills, in the highways and fields and threshing floors, 
in the night and in the broad day, in the calm and in the 



WHA T IS AN I NFL UENCE ? 131 

Storm, speaking words of peace, and smiting with a 
sword, in bringing health and prosperty, and wasting 
with the pestilence, talking with men under the 
shadow of trees and tents and temple roofs, at city- 
gates, in humble dwellings, and in the depth of the 
dungeon's gloom. 

"In all these places and circumstances, men 
have seen and heard the living inhabitants of other 
worlds. 

" And these celestial visitants have come from 
their far distant homes to take part in the affairs of 
men. They have shown themselves better acquainted 
with human history, and better able to do our work 
than we ourselves. They have defeated great 
armies; they have overthrown populous cities; they 
have sent forth and arrested the pestilence; they 
have rested under the shadow of the oaks at noon, as 
if weary; they have eaten bread, as if hungry; they 
have received hospitality in human homes at evening, 
as if coming in from a journey; they have rolled 
away the stone from the tomb; they have kindled 
the fire of the altar and stood unhurt in the midst of 
the flame; they have clothed themselves in garments 
that shone like the lightning, and have appeared in so 
common a garb as to be taken for wayfaring men 
needing lodging for the night. 



132 



WHA T IS AN INFLUENCE. 



'•' It adds immensely to the solemn interest of our 
daily life to know that we may have unseen witnesses 
of our conduct, and partners of our toil at any 
moment. It gives us a higher and truer estimate of 
our own place in the commonwealth of intelligent 
beings, to find that we are objects of intense interest 
to the inhabitants of other worlds. It enlarges the 
range of our thought, and lifts our desires and aspi- 
rations above all earthly, perishable things, to know 
that our present habitation is only our little province 
of a universe of worlds, and that this mighty empire 
is bound together by ties of intelligence, cooperation 
and sympathy to its uttermost extent." 

The law of God and the universe was yesterday, 
is now, and will be forever the same. If the spirits 
from far distant worlds take such intense interest in 
our affairs, what ought we to expect from our loved 
ones, whose sympathies were interwoven with ours, 
which follow them beyond the visible form into the 
spirit realms? That love steadily increases in purity 
and confidence. How often we hear the heart cry 
out, " Oh, if my dear mother knew my sorrow and 
could come to me!" No thought goes beyond our 
loved ones to the inhabitants of strange worlds. 
There is no knowledge and no sympathy from us to 
them. Why should they come and interest them- 
selves in our affairs? If our own most intimate rela- 



WHA T IS AN INFL UENCE ? 133 

tions with those who have lived with us here, shared 
our happiness and our sorrow, if they, our loved 
ones, are not permitted to manifest their interest in 
our welfare, why should strangers? We must use 
our own intelligent reason and answer for ourselves, 
they do. 

All houses wherein men have lived and died 
Are haunted houses. Through the open door 

The harmless phantoms on their errands glide, 
With feet that make no sound upon the floor. 

We meet them at the doorway, on the stair; 

Along the passage they come and go, — 
Impalpable impressions on the air, 

A sense of something moving to and fro. 

There are more guests at the table than the host 

Invited; the illuminated hall 
Is thronged with quiet, inoflensive ghosts. 

As silent as the pictures on the wall. 

The stranger at the fireside cannot see 

The forms I see, nor hear the sounds I hear; 

He but perceives what is; while imto me 
All that has been is visible and clear. 

We have no title-deeds to house or lands; 

Owners and occupants of earlier date 
From graves forgotten stretch their dusky hands, 

And hold in mortmain still their old estate. 

Longfellow. 



A SERIES OF STRIKING PROOFS 
OF IMMORTALITY. 



If human testimony of the most conclusive character 
be allowed its due weight, Clairvoyance is already 
proven. 

In my own observation, when the subject of Clair- 
voyance has been introduced, I have remarked the 
quick and nervous expression in the countenances of 
those who feared to implicate themselves, even in the 
remotest degree of acceptance or acknowledgment. 
A pitiable manifestation, to be sure! Gladly would 
I dispel the cloud that hangs over everything per- 
taining to modern development. Clairvoyance is a 
natural, and not acquired power of discernment. 

I remember describing to a German (a man 
posessed of considerable native ability,) his sister, as 
she was leaving Germany on a ship, together with 
many things connected [with himself and his early 
home, which he said were delineated with more cir- 
cumstantial exactness than he could possibly have 
done himself. He subsequently solicited and obtained 
an interview, in the course of which he said he had 



136 A SERIES OF STRIKING PROOFS 

a good farm, stocked with everything needed, of 
which he would give me a deed if I would only 
impart information as to how I saw what I had des- 
cribed, and teach him how to do the same. The 
first of these requests I could have acceded to, but 
it was wholly out of my power to teach him. 

The question has often been asked if I was born 
with a veil? It seems that any number of people are 
quite ready to believe in anything that may be 
invested with something of the marvelous, but when 
one tries to render what is natural plain and reason- 
able, a superstitious and indefinable fear is at once 
awakened of something beyond human agency, and 
therefore something to be dreaded. 

A lady once told me that if Clairvoyance were 
only advanced to a point to make it harmonize with 
popular opinion, she would be perfectly happy to 
acknowledge it openly, as she was entirely convinced 
of its truth, but until then she could not feel free to 
do so, although she availed herself of its advantages 
privately. I could but exclaim : " Good Lord 
deliver me from such a bondage!" Another lad}^, 
while I was administering magnetic treatment, said: 
"Mrs. C. are you a spiritualist?" "I hope so," I 
replied, " I believe in immortality." " Oh, so do I," 
she said, " but when I die I expect to have a better 
abiding place than around this earth." " Do you 



OF IMMORTALITY. 137 

believe in the Bible?" 1 inquired. " Oh, of course." 
"Well, you know it tells us that God is everywhere, 
in the highest heaven and in the deepest hell, and at 
the farthermost ends of the earth, and there is no 
place where God is not, and you may not be too good 
to be where God is. And if God is here his angels 
may also be. 

"If you cultivate your spiritual brain and can free 
it from superstitious unnaturalism, study nature in 
its divinest sense, feeling the need of more light on 
the subject of your spiritual nature ; be wise enough 
to learn of God ; realize how far you have traveled 
from the truth, and become hungry for that which 
feeds the soul ; you would feel in sympathetic relation 
with the spiritual elements in nature, and, through 
natural progression, the spirit within would carry 
you beyond the limited vision of your natural senses 
and open that higher vision revealing through God's 
immutable law the life that is, the real as contradis- 
tinguished from^the ideal. And believe me, when once 
entirely free from the blind and the mythical influences 
of the dead past, you would look back wondering 
how you could have been so blindly superstitious." 

A dear old lady, who had been a devoted Christian 

all her life according to the Baptist teachings, was 

born into the higher life. While her spiritual and 

natural attributes remained as one, her spiritual 

10 



138 A SERIES OF STRIKING PROOFS 

vision was opened to the true life's realities, and she 
praised God understandingly. With that grand old 
face all radiant with joy and peace, she exclaimed: 
"Now I know that my Redeemer liveth, and I shall 
meet and know my loved ones there. Oh! how 
could I have been satisfied with the little I once 
thought I had! Once I saw as through a glass 
darkly; now I have the true light brought b}^ the 
angels from heaven." 

I was called to see a sick man in the country, 
some eighteen miles distant. When I arrived I saw 
at once that there was no help; he was struck with 
death. Throughout the night his mind wandered, 
and only for a moment at a time would any intelligent 
thought be manifested. The next morning there 
were unmistakable signs of early dissolution. His 
friends thronged the room, and his wife requested 
me to impart to him, if he could receive it, information 
as to the true state of the case. In a few moments he 
gave me opportunity; suddenly rallying to a bright 
consciousness, and with a voice clear and rationally 
natural, he exclaimed: "I see you now; Oh, my 
wife and daughter; there they are!" pointing towards 
the side of the bed and above it; (he was referring to 
a former wife.) His face shone with preternatural 
radiance and every manifestation of delight. "Well," 
I said, "Mr. Moore, your spirit friends are here, 



OF IMM OR TA LIT Y. 



139 



waiting to receive you into their homes." "Is that 
so?" he replied; " well, it is just as well now as any 
time." He reflected a moment, and, laying his hand 
over his heart, continued: "I feel all right here." 
His friends approached his bed-side and spoke kindly 
and affectionately to him; he shook hands with 
them cheerfully, saying he was both ready and 
willing to go if his time had come; he seemed to be 
perfectly natural and bade them good bye, saying he 
had always paid his debts and done the best he could, 
advising them to do the same. " Now I am going; 
give me a glass of cold water, and let it come straight 
from the well," It was brought, and he arose and 
sat on the side of the bed, took the glass in his hand 
and drank the draught unassisted. He fainted or 
seemed to faint, and was laid back upon the bed. 
In a few moments he opened his eyes and smiled, 
saying: "I did not ^^/ ^?/^ 'that time!" His family 
and friends briefly conversed with him; he seemed 
perfectly natural, only somewhat excited, and eager 
to do or say whatever might seem appropriate, and 
when all was done he calmly said: "Now I am 
going; get me another glass of cold water." He 
arose from the bed again and sat on the side of the 
bed, drank the water, he said, "Mrs. C, take hold of 
my hands," which I did; he bent forward and was 
gone ; five minutes after all signs of life had ceased 



140 A SERIES OP STRIKING PROOFS 

his body and head raised up straight; without any 
support his dead body sat there looking at the people, 
or seemed to ; he was laid back upon the bed the 
second time, and his shoulders were a little twisted; 
after he was left his shoulders raised up and laid 
back straight. 

The evidence of a dying man would be taken in 
a court of justice. Mr. Moore knew he was dying, 
and when he saw his wife and daughter he must 
have seen them with his spirit eyes; his soul's per- 
ceptions, his strength and voice and clearness of mind 
were restored to him, yet at this time the entire right 
side of his body was mortified, and the left hip and 
limb were also mortified; the back of his neck was 
purple. His spirit asserted itself while yet in the 
body, with the assistance of his spirit friends who 
sustained and directed him. The heat of the body 
would with its magnetic attraction have held the spirit 
longer, but the sudden chill of the cold water broke 
that condition and let his spirit free. "Those who 
have eyes let them see, and those who have ears let 
them hear." 

A lady who had been abandoned when a child of 
six weeks old, by her mother was, after the lapse of 
twenty-eight years from this abandonment, ill with 
consumption. She became very nervous, and a strong 
desire possessed her mind to see her mother or learn 



OF IMMORTALITY. 141 

what had become of her. She had not the slightest 
clue to her where she might be or an3"thing except 
her maiden name. This desire seemed to render her 
almost frantic. At last when she was sitting at a 
small table, it began tipping back and forth. Ques- 
tions were asked as to what this demonstration 
meant, when by calling over the letters of the alpha- 
bet, the following instructions were given: "Write to 

(his name was given; one who lived a thousand 

miles away;) ask him to tell you where your mother 
is; you will find her and see her in six weeks; you 
may not know me, as my life began in the spirit 
world almost, having lived only two hours in the 
body; I am four years younger than you, and am 
your half brother; my name is Ernest." We wrote 
the letter, found the mother and went to see her in 
just six weeks, also found that there was a child born 
twenty-four years before and only lived two hours, 
whose name would have been Ernest if he had lived. 
What can be said against such testimony as this? 
There are none so blind as those that will not see. 

1 have heard the voices of living persons who 
have lived many miles distant as well as those nearer. 
The tone, emphasis, motion of the hand if any, are 
all conveyed to my inner hearing, clairauditorily. 
Soon after hearing the voice, I see the person, and 
whatever concerns him or her at that time. These 



142 A SERIES OF STRIKING PROOFS 

things are not of rare occurrence, but every day, almost 
every hour, there is something of the kind, either of 
sight or hearing, or both. 

A lady of my acquaintance had a very sick child 
and sent her son to request me to come and see him. 
Being engaged for the evening, I could not go, but 
sent directions what to do. The mother of the child 
was apprehensive that I did not understand the 
nature of the trouble, and was too anxious to wait, 
and therefore came to see me herself. Before she 
reached the house I commenced making passes over 
myself in a very energetic manner, not knowing why 
or what for. This continued until the mother arrived 
and perhaps five minutes after. When she explained 
how sick her boy was, she expressed a fear of great 
danger, as he had all the symptoms of typhoid fever. 
I gave her some simple remedies and asked her to 
let me know in the morning how he was. She sent 
me word as soon as she returned to her home that 
her son was perfectly well, and was playing about 
the room when she arrived there. This is not given 
for the dead skeptic, but for the live investigator. 

I will relate another instance from my own experi- 
ence. Walking along one of our principal streets I 
came to where there were stores on the ground floor 
and rented rooms for housekeeping on the floor above. 
Having no acquaintance on the street I had seem- 



OF IMMORTALITY. 143 

ingly no particular interest in any one. Coming 
opposite a door which opened into a stairway, I 
stopped mechanically, opened the door and proceeded 
up the stairs, having no thought why I was going or 
where. Upon reaching the landing, I looked into 
the room on the right, the door of which was open, 
when I discovered a lady sick in bed. I saw at once 
her condition, and knew it was a critical one. She 
was very ill and unable to call for help ; I proceeded 
to give such treatment as the case demanded and 
soon relieved her of immediate danger. She did not 
seem to realize that I was an entire stranger, and I 
was careful to avoid startling her by arousing her 
curiosity, contenting myself by enjoining her to keep 
perfectly quiet, and telling her I would stay until 
some one came, which I did. Her life was saved. 
Query, what sent me there? 

I remember walking up Fulton street in New 
York, from the ferry, with an old gentleman who 
was possessed of great wealth and a little careless 
with his money, especially as to where he carried it; all 
at once he stopped and said,"Let us walk back," which 
we did. He picked up a roll of bills on the sidewalk, 
and then found that he had lost it from his vest pocket. 
"What impressed you to turn back?" I asked. He 
said, "God watches over me, because I trust in him; 
he caused me to go back and find the money I had 



144 A SERIES OF STRIKING PROOFS 



lost." "Would it not seem more natural if your wife, 
who watched over your interest while she lived in 
this world, should be your guard and protector 
still? God would naturally allow you to walk on, 
while some of those poor needy ones would have 
found that which would have relieved want and suffer- 
ing. Nevertheless I believe God's will worketh in all 
things for good." 

My brother was owner and master of a small 
steamer that carried passengers to and from different 
ports on the river. (I do not wish to give names of 
persons here, but if there are those who wish to know 
names or residences that I have referred to, I will most 
cheerfully impart information upon these or any 
other points). My brother had not been in the enjoy- 
ment of good health for several years. One Sunday 
morning about sunrise I was startled by seeing a face 
which I knew was that of one who had been in the 
spirit world several years. The apparition, peering 
at me with an anxious expression, caused me to sus- 
pect that some danger was threatening. I spoke out 
impulsively: "What is the matter?" The face dis- 
appeared, and I began to see my brother on the boat. 
His first appearance was like one dead; I soon saw 
that the blood was in circulation around and through 
the heart and lungs, and discovered that he was suf- 
fering from cholera morbus of such severe type that 



OF IMMOR TALITY. 145 

his life was threatened; indeed he seemed dying. I 
distinctly saw the boat come into port, a physician sent 
for, and he was carried home. There were on my 
mind strong impressions of what ought to be done. 
Being Sunday, there were no boats or cars, and no 
means of going to him. On Monday morning I 
wrote a letter stating what I had seen, and what 
seemed proper to do, adding that I would come if 
necessary. What was my astonishment to receive 
by return mail a letter informing me that my brother 
was as well as usual and that he had gone on that 
morning (Monday) on his usual routine of business. I 
was further advised not to listen to "spirits," if I did 
see them. Now for the sequel. When the boat 
came down that evening, my brother was in precisely 
the condition I had seen him, and everything took 
place, even to the minutest particular, just as I had 
seen the events thirty hours before they transpired, 
and they had received such advice as I could give 
them, which went far towards his recovery. 

One day I heard a voice which I recognized as of a 
lady living one hundred and sixty miles awa}^ I soon 
saw that she had a very sick child ; my mind was 
strongly impressed with the necessary remedies and 
how they were to be used; soon I saw the mother 
prepare such remedies and use them, to the child's 
benefit. I wrote to the parties asking them to inform 



146 A SERIES OF STRIKING PROOFS 

me if I had seen an actual occurrence, or was it imag- 
ination? They did not go to the post office until 
three days later, and were surprised to find written a 
description of the child's illness. Even the words that 
I heard were true. There was nothing in my interest 
to call the voice; what was it? 

A certain woman in this city had not been able 
to speak a word for six years, and only twice in 
thirteen years. She had nervous prostration, and 
her circulation was very weak. She was unable 
even to walk across the floor without help. The 
physicians had exhausted all their resources, and had 
given up her case three years before the period at 
which I first saw her. Upon investigation I became 
satisfied that the nerves controlling the organs of 
speech were not paralyzed, but that at the roots of 
the nerves morbid secretions had formed, so as to 
intercept the natural action of the magnetic currents 
from the battery controlling the voice. By using pro- 
per remedies and friction, magnetism, electricity, etc., 
the obstructions were removed. Stimulating lini- 
ments were rubbed into the pores of the skin, arousing 
activity throughout the whole system. The woman 
recovered her voice and health perfectly. Her friends 
consider her recovery almost a miracle, and yet the 
cause was simple and the cure natural. 



OF IMMORTALITY. 147 



In i860, a woman living in m}^ neighborhood had 
the misfortune to lose her husband under the most 
distressing circumstances. He had been frightfully 
scalded in a tan vat, and expired in great agony nine 
days after the occurrence of the catastrophe. His wife 
took care of him through all the terrible ordeal, and 
after his burial she vs^as herself taken ill with symp- 
toms of a low nervous fever. She had been confined 
to her room throughout the previous winter, and in 
the spring her friends thought it advisable to remove 
her, and she was accordingly taken to the residence 
of her sister, who lived opposite my own house. 
After some time had passed without hearing any- 
thing in particular concerning her, I was informed 
by my son that she was dying. I set out to visit her, 
and met the physician at the door, who informed me 
that she was too low to see anyone, and I accordingly 
returned home. In the evening I was sent for to 
witness her will, which the priest had dictated, and 
to whose provisions she assented, upon which occa- 
sion I saw her for the first time. The whole truth 
touching her illness seemed revealed to me at once. 
I said to the Father, who was administering to her 
words of comfort: "She is not dying." He replied: 
"1 fear she is; do not bid her hope." He stated that 
he was obliged to go home, but would return in the 
course of a few minutes. It occurred to me that if I 



148 A SERIES OF STRIKING PROOFS 

did anything for her it would have to be done 
speedily. I requested a lady present to prepare a 
cup of tea and a piece of toast as quickly as possible. 
The lady stared at me as if she thought I had 
become insane. Still I had the nourishment provided. 
I placed my hands around her throat and gave a 
lirm, quick squeeze, which had the effect to break 
the gathering in the glands of the throat. It became 
apparent that her ailment was quinsy, and she 
became able to speak and swallow within three min- 
utes from the conclusion of the treatment I have 
described. She partook of the tea and toast; I raised 
her up, rubbed her spine, and "slapped " her flesh 
all over, talking cheeringly all the while. She said,, 
with a smile: "I feel first-rate!" The same after- 
noon four physicians had coincided in the opinion 
that she could not live over five hours. Their theory 
was that the valves of the heart were closing, and 
that changes were going on that would place her 
beyond the reach of mortal aid. They were all in 
error. She had been, during her previous terrible 
trial, taking stimulants with very little food, and 
afterwards took cold from being removed, eventuat- 
ing in quinsy. When the minister returned she was 
quite comfortable, and as he stepped softly into the 
room she turned toward him and exclaimed: " 0» 
Father, I am almost well!" The priest held up the 



OF IMMOR TA LIT Y. 149 

cross, and cried out: "i\ miracle, a miracle!" " Oh 
no," I said, "not exactly." "What has done it?" 
he demanded. " Only a little common sense," I 
replied. I explained the case, and he became at once 
satisfied that there was great need of common-sense 
practice. 

This life, was saved through CIairvoya?ice. 
A lady from Minneapolis, Minnesota, who had lost 
her daughter b}^ death, was constantly moved to grief 
by the sorrowful event. A friend, anxious to comfort 
her, essayed to gain some knowledge of her spiritual 
existence as a means of holding the thoughts of the 
mother m a more healthy sympathy with her child, 
and prove that the tie of affection was unbroken. In 
company with the mother they paid me a visit, 
hoping that the daughter would be present and 
would be enabled to manifest her presence to my 
spiritual sight. The lady introduced her as a friend, 
and then made known their errand. We all sat 
down and joined hands in order to concentrate the 
magnetic power necessary to enable her daughter to 
make herself visible as in her natural earth form. 
The first form presented was that of a gentleman 
well known to the lady. Then another was seen, 
with whom I became en rappoi^t, and he was able to 
communicate a number of prominent facts in his his- 
tory. He said he came from Holland when a young 



I50 A SERIES OF STRIKING PROOFS 



boy, in company with well-known families, and 
settled on the Hudson river; served in the revolu- 
tionary war, and lived to a good old age in the same 
settlement. This was proven to be the lady's grand- 
father on her mother's side. I saw all this, the 
knowledge being plainly presented to my mind. I 
soon began to witness another scene, which was pre- 
sented as if afar off. The country looked dark, and 
the air seemed filled with trouble. I saw a large 
and excited crowd of men, the excitement and con- 
ditions of mind being just as plainly visible "as the 
men. Soon I found that two men were being exe- 
cuted by hanging. I knew that the offense was 
treason to the government, and that one whose 
execution was legally demanded had escaped. I also 
discovered that these men belonged to the " higher 
class," and that their property was confiscated. The 
lady informed me that the refugee from justice was 
her grandfather on her father's side, one of the two 
men executed being his brother. The scene was in 
Ireland. Then a man in the spirit appeared, accom- 
panied by a beautiful young lady, and my visitor 
expressed an earnest wish to learn the young lady's 
name, whereupon a large pair of shears was seen, 
which the spirits both of the lady and young man 
opened and held up. (Her name was Shears.) To 
test still farther the identity, she* inquired her given 



OF IMMORTALITY. 151 



name. The thought instantly came to me of the 
name ot the King of England at the period of the 
revolutionary war, and I saw at once the personifica- 
tion of that monarch. I then saw a field of cotton, 
the product of which was being picked by slaves 
with baskets. Even their clothing seemed as plain 
as if I stood in their presence, and a peculiar melody 
filled the air. The singing of the men seemed to 
float as clearty as if it were real, and I heard the 
words "Away Down in Georgia." The lady's given 
name was Georgie. The query is suggested, what 
will be done with all this evidence if these thinp-s are 
not true? Hundreds of proofs, even more striking, 
could be presented, but I forbear. I feel, like one of 
old, that I have much more to tell, but you cannot 
bear it now. And if any should be disposed to 
doubt these things, and can and will explain, they 
will have to give me faith for sincerity in assuming 
that they are true, inasmuch as they have been given 
to me and proven beyond a peradventure. 



FREEDOM, 



Freedom has a sweet sound; there is music in the 
name. Alas, that its meaning should be so often 
perverted! If, as the poet says: 

' ' He is a freeman whom the truth makes free, 
And all are slaves beside," 

then I fear that slavery has not yet become 
entirely extinct, for there is a most lamentable lack 
of proper effort to make the truth free. 

Who are the free? There are degrees of free- 
dom, but no individual being is free from responsi- 
bilities, or free to change the current of his life. We 
cannot choose our parents or relatives, or our 
nativity, or determine in what age of the world we 
will be born. We cannot choose not to die, for 
dissolution is an inexorable law of our being. We 
cannot choose absolutely good health, for the mala- 
dies that afflict humanity are in the very air we 
breathe, and are lurking everywhere. We love, 
because the sentiment that prompts love is part and 
parcel of our spiritual nature, and when we take 
everything into consideration, we shall be compelled 

11 



154 



FREEDOM. 



to admit that it is almost equally natural to hate — 
hate whatever is repulsive to our feelings or our ideas. 
Wherein consists free will? Circumstances fre- 
quently compel us to perform acts very much against 
our will. No one can say that he is, under all cir- 
cumstances, free to do as he wills. What is will? 
It is the disposition of organic order. That makes 
us what we are, either harmonious in ourselves, or 
disagreeable to a degree that brings either discom- 
fort or happiness. How often we say to ourselves, 
in terms: ''I wish I were differently organized, so 
th^ 1 would not be annoyed or made miserable by 
the very things that afford pleasure to others. I am 
so timid, so bashful, so awkward, or so irritable; so 
many things go wrong with me, no matter how 
hard I try to overcome the difficulty." Some will 
say: " I would like to be a Christian, but I cannot 
believe the creeds of men; there is no responsive 
chord in my heart; nothing that acts upon my sym- 
pathies. I wish I could believe as many do, but I 
cannot." Is there any free will exhibited here? 
Something within lies so heavily toward the inclina- 
tion that the impulse of the peculiar organization has 
to be followed. It is so strong as to prove resistless. 
Will is weak to break the habit of thought, or any 
other habit. The impulse of nature, from having 
become the slave of habit, is stronger than will. 



FREEDOM. 155 



In the course of a conversation with a young man 
concerning a habit of indulgence in the use of intoxi- 
cating liquors, in which I warned him of the fatal 
consequences, he said: "I know I ought to stop 
now, but I can't get the zuant io.^'' 

A man feels himself insulted and wronged, and 
he is constrained instantly to resentment. There is 
not the shadow of a will there; his impulses actually 
compel him to resent the indignity. It is the natural 
result of the wrong — cause and effect — and the will is 
not a factor in the matter. 

When a knowledge of the defects in one's char- 
acter is understood, and there is a desire to remedy 
the lack of harmony, there should be a system of 
development of those organs of the brain that are 
deficient in size and activity, and a constant surveil- 
lance exercised over those too prominent traits of 
character that tend to mar the happiness and com- 
promise the usefulness of the individual. In this way 
only can a free will be made manifest. 

There is comparatively very little merit in simply 
being good if there are no temptations to be other- 
wise. A man who can govern himself comes nearest 
perfection. 

There is within every heart the sense of right and 
wrong. . Who can always choose the right? 



156 FREEDOM. 

These remarks are mainly directed to the ques- 
tion of freedom of will. A reference to freedom 
from superstition and error opens a still wider field, 
and the most striking result of a labored essay would 
lie in the proof that the name of the victims of mental 
slavery is legion. There is a contradistinction 
between this and the kind already described, the 
latter not being governed by impulse. 

So much for the freedom of the individual man as 
distinct from the question of the larger and more 
poetic idea of national liberty; that glorious and 
inspiring idea for which rivers of blood have been 
shed, and which has constituted the theme of orators 
and bards through all the ages. It is only in those 
nations and communities where virtue prevails and 
where intelligence is widely diffused that freedom 
can be estimated at its true value. So long as 
patriotism, virtue and intelligence, and the principles 
of eternal justice, abide with the people — so long as 
honor, and life, and freedom, and hope are with them 
all as one and the same thing — so long will our 
liberties endure. But wo to our country and the 
world when these shall have given place to that 
degeneracy of the pui>lic morals which is the natural 
product of individual degeneracy. The inestimable 
blessings we enjoy will, with their sequent individual 
prosperity and happiness, give place to anarchy, and 



FREEDOM. 157 

the republic will go down into that vortex which has 
received the wrecks of the republics of the olden 
time, never to rise again ! 

" Oh Liberty! thou plant of fickle birth, 

Cradled in storms and nursed upon the wild; 

Oft in their prime thy blossoms fall to earth 
Like early flowers, sensitive and mild, 

Which, if they miss the snows by fortune piled 
On peevish April's shy, uncertain hours, 

Their blooms, by drenching rains and floods defiled, 
Die ere the green leaves thicken in their bowers, 
Yielding their fair abodes to more enduring flowers. 

Thy tender lineaments are seldom seen. 
And, like the meteor, beautiful and brief; 

Man just beholds thee in thy dazzling sheen, 
And thou art gone and he is left in grief. 

Say, does the monarch find thee, or the chief 
To whom dismembered nations bow the knee ? 

Thou fallest from his grasp as falls the leaf 
When autumn winds assail the bending tree. 
Scattering its fragrant robes wide o'er the lea. 

Crowds have possessed thee for a little space, 
Brief hast thou been by multitudes adored; 

Soon has licentiousness usurped thy place, 

And thou hast sunk beneath the uplifted sword; 

Man must be virtuous ere thy smiles afford 
Nerve to his arm or counsels to his mind; 

Then shall the tyrant sicken at his board 

Like proud Belshazzar, when Heaven's hand designed 
The scroll upon the wall — thy mystery undefined!" 



SUPERSTITION. 



Superstition still exists even in this enlightened age 
and country, and as long as the devil is preached as 
an article of religious faith it cannot be said to be 
confined wholly to the degraded and ignorant. 
Some of my experiences may be of interest as show- 
ing how superstitious motives may prevent the 
action of the most ordinary common sense in matters 
of health. 

I went to see a sick child in a small town on the 
St. Clair river. Scarlet fever had raged in the town 
with fatal effect, and this child, a little son of a 
Mr. Caspar, lingered a long time in the clutches of 
the disease; dropsy set in, and the doctors decided 
that the child must die. The minister of the Bethel 
church, having studied medicine as well as theology, 
came in, prayed for the boy and administered some 
medicine, but there was no improvement. He 
declared that God was pleased to remove him from 
the earth, and counseled his parents to be resigned, 
but an acquaintance induced them to send for me as 
a last resort. As soon as I saw the child, I knew 



i6o SUPERSTITION. 



that if his circulation could be recovered and perspi- 
ration excited, he could get well, and I gave him a 
magnetic treatment, which brought the water from 
the pores of the skin in streams. The next day I 
gave a warm bath and a little sweet spirits of nitre, 
and the child was out of danger. 

The minister called on Mr. Caspar and informed 
him that the devil had performed a miracle in curing 
the child, and would hold a power over him always, 
unless special prayers w^ere said every Sunday for 
four weeks, which would cost fifteen dollars. The 
poor father felt almost sorr}^ the child lived to be in 
such spiritual danger, but I reasoned with and told 
him to ask the minister to meet me and I would 
explain the natural means which had accomplished 
the cure. But he declined, and persisted in demand- 
ing the money for the necessary prayers. The father 
became angry, suspecting that the minister was 
working on his fears to extort money, and settled the 
matter by saying: " You prayed every day for four 
weeks that my child might get well, but the Lord 
did not hear you. If the devil has cured my only 
child the devil gets my money. I'll never give you 
another cent." Probably the minister was not so 
ignorant, but thought he could extort money from 
the superstitious fears of the father. 



SUPERSTITION. i6r 



A German woman became insane from congested- 
blood vessels. When I was called I found inflamma- 
tion of the mucous membrane and fever; made out- 
ward applications; soon relieved the pain and swell- 
ing, and in a couple of days she was able to sit up. 
I then treated her head with magnetism, and a 
neighbor, who saw the mysterious passes, took cold, 
and cold-sores came out on her lips. She at once 
credited me with her trouble, thinking I had over- 
heard her say it was the devil that cured her neigh- 
bor, and asked the sick woman and her husband to 
beg my pardon, for fear of greater afflictions. 

Talking with a friendly priest about the ignorant 
superstitions of his people, he said: " O, yes, they 
are all superstitious. It is born in them." 

" But," I said, '' You have them under 3'our 
influence from their births. Could not you teach 
them better?" 

" We could not govern them if they were not 
superstitious," he frankly admitted. 

The devil is accepted, not from an intelligent 
faith, but from a superstitious dread of an invisible 
foe, and in this dread its victims resort to supersti- 
tious devices to be protected and saved from his 
power. 

Witchcraft and the power of charms are believed 
in by persons who from education and culture ought 



i62 SUPERSTITION. 



to know better, but who have an overplus of the 
marvelous in their composition. 

I will give another case which occurred in my 
practice in Detroit. A Polish man consulted me in 
regard to his wife, bringing with him an intelligent 
German woman as interpreter. Diagnosing the case 
clairvoyantly, I told him his wife's stomach was 
inflamed by stimulants taken without food, which 
reacted on the brain, and she saw visions, something 
like a person who had delirium tremens. I gave 
them some medical advice, and after they had con- 
versed together for a few minutes the woman said 
that what I had said might be true, but that was not 
what ailed the man's wife. 

" What is the matter, then? " I asked. 

" Why, it is the devil," was the astounding 
answer. 

" What do you mean by that? " 

" O, she knows who did it. She went to tea 
with a few friends, and a woman then put it on her, 
in fact, bewitched her." They had opened their two 
feather beds and found witches' rings of hair and 
feathers — seven in one and eight in the other. The 
sick woman had been some better since they were 
removed, but could take nothing into her stomach 
but beer and whisky. I explained as well as I could 
that there was no such thing as witchcraft, and 



SUPERSTITION. 163 



advised the man to send his wife to the hospital for 
treatment. He refused, being determined to find 
some one who could break the spell, or she must die 
at home. I told them I could not kill the devil; if I 
could I would have done so long ago, especially the 
devil called whisky. 

A young woman, whose first child was three 
weeks old, remained weak, and suffered from loss of 
appetite and sleeplessness. It was a case of witch- 
craft. A Polish woman who understood charms was 
called. A lock of hair was cut from the sick 
woman's head just above the right ear and laid over 
the sick woman's heart for three days, when it was 
found to be in a tangled mass. The sick woman's hair 
was also matted into regular witch- mats and could 
not be straightened. The Polish woman burned the 
lock, saying over it words to break the spell, but it 
did not work; the woman remained sick, and her 
husband came to me. I advised him to turn the 
believers in witchcraft out of doors and give his wife 
some medicine, which he did, and she speedily 
recovered. 

A man and his wife came from Monroe to Detroit 
with two women friends to see if I could help them in 
a singular sort of trouble. They talked sensibly 
enough until one of the women said a man had sent 
an evil spirit to torment her, and if he left off torment- 



i64 SUPERSTITION. 



ing her, the man who sent the spirit would die. At 
that, one of the friends exclaimed, " Don't be fright- 
ened; it is coming." and the afflicted woman's bowels 
began to jerk and move in a violent manner. She 
howled like a dog, barked and growled, struck out 
with her hands and kicked with her feet in a fright- 
ful manner. I thought I would try electricity, and 
put the poles of a battery in her hands and turned on 
a shock which astonished the spirit a little, probably, 
as the howls became terrific. The man was shaking 
with a chill. This continued for half an hour, and 
when it ceased I advised the parties to separate, as 
I thought they encouraged each other in their foolish 
belief, and recommended mineral baths. But they 
wanted the evil spirit exorcised, which was not in my 
line of business, so they departed. I heard the next 
day that the good father priest was going to celebrate 
mass for their relief, but I never learned with what 
success. 

Omens, signs and lucky days are believed in by 
intelligent people, and love powders are sought after 
by educated ladies as well as by the humble and 
ignorant. A little missionary work might be done 
right here in the city of Detroit. 



HAPPINESS. 



The pursuit of happiness is the object of life. It 
may well be named a pursuit, for happiness is so 
seldom overtaken, but like the ignus fatuus ever 
eludes the pursuer. The possessors of wealth are 
envied by the poor, who believe that happiness dwells 
with them. Though riches may be accessories to 
happiness by providing for physical comfort and 
enjoyment, they cannot buy a happy heart. Educa- 
tion does not bring happiness, and the heart of the 
artist cannot live altogether in his art. The religion- 
ist, although his faith may be perfect and complete in 
the happiness of the life beyond, is not satisfied with 
the present. Where a void is ever left by parting 
friends; where the soul needs nourishment, it does not 
find it, and yearns silently for something that wealth, 
or fame, or faith cannot bestow. 

Happiness cannot be found in things that perish, 
or in a world of future expectations. It dwells only 
in harmonious relations with those we love. We 
touch the chords which vibrate from the heart's deep 
fountain of feeling, and there springs forth the spirit 



i66 HAPPINESS. 

of happiness whose presence glorifies the world. 

The soul that gives most freely from its treasures of 
love gains the greatest happiness, "for he that loseth 
his life shall find it," and the love that is given 
becomes to the giver an everlasting possession. To 
be loved for good deeds is a crown of glor}^, the 
reward of conscious merit. This conscious merit is 
truth within the secret chambers of thought; strength 
to cheer the wear}^ and lighten the burdens of care; 
power to encourage the weak and to lift the soul 
above the groveling cares of life, and to cultivate in 
the soul a love for the pure and beautiful in nature 
and in life. It comprises sympathy with all life; 
the power to separate the dross from the gold, 
knowing that the dross must exist that the pure 
metal may develop. So the good and the evil of 
life are born together, and through the struggle of the 
good evil diminishes by the same law which enables 
the spiritual to conquer everywhere. As the spiritual 
conquers by absorbing the vital power from all 
orders of material life, so will the principle of truth 
extract all that is valuable from the life of the world 
and convert it into a monument of happy memories. 
True education is of the heart as well as of the 
brain. We may be wise in the knowledge of books, 
but barren of that culture which develops the affec- 
tions. In earth life we cannot get beyond the primary 



HAPPINESS. 167 



departments of knowledge. Science will assist our 
endeavors, and the study of nature in its sublime 
beauty of lofty mountains, deep chasms, grand cata- 
racts, and the wealth of vegetable and mineral pro- 
ductions will expand and ennoble the soul, but the 
mind is not truly educated until it has outgrown its 
groveling propensities, lost its morbid identity, and 
taken on the wings of inspirational thought with 
which to soar in those spiritual realms where angels 
dwell. At the same time it can stoop to contemplate 
the smallest atom of creation and read a poem of 
thanksgiving to God in the minutest work of his 
hand. 

Without this education, even though we become 
wise in intellectual attainments, we shall be novices 
in that psychological development which brings us 
in sympathy with and in close relations to the univer- 
sal sensorium, the perfection of all wisdom, the God 
of our adoration. I hope to be a student in the 
school of eternity and endeavor in that light to solve 
the problem of a true education. On those plains of 
excellence the enlarged and cultivated intellect may 
contemplate the germ of all that exists, unfolded in 
the universal kingdom of God. We cannot study the 
mysteries of our own existence without being con- 
strained to worship a supreme intellect. Sects and 
creeds prove nothing but human fallibility, but the 



i68 HAPPINESS. 

hand that shaped our organism and governs the 
universe must be divine. I console myself with the 
belief that there are heights more sublime, expanses 
more grand, depths more profound and glories incon- 
ceivable, lying within the range of our unfettered 
souls than olden theology ever taught us to hope for- 
When we understand the truths which nature teaches, 
freed from vain imaginings, and live in accordance 
with her law, the highest and best we are capable of 
receiving, the light will travel before us, revealing the 
truth as we pass through this life, and throwing its 
bright rays far into the beyond. 



TREATMENT OF THE INTEMPERATE. 



When we manifest bitter and unkind feelings toward 
the unfortunate victims of intemperance, we make a 
very great mistake indeed, and are guilty of violence 
to the nobler dictates of our nature and of common 
humanity. Quite as properly might we entertain 
such feelings towards those suffering from any 
other of the maladies which flesh is heir to, for the 
love of ardent spirits is only a distressing form of 
disease, and the unfortunate victim ought to excite 
our pity. 

When a man or woman has been addicted to habits 
of intemperance and becomes so indisposed by its 
effects, or even from other forms of disease, as to 
require a physician and nurse, much good may be 
done in the way of adapting and enforcing remedial 
measures if the proper course is pursued. There 
should be no alcoholic stimulants used or administered 
in any form. They are resources that merely ener- 
vate and undermine the system and keep alive the 
latent desire for stimulants, and their recovery would 

only serve to add further indulgence in that which 

12 



170 TREA TMENT OF THE INTEMPERA TE. 

destroys mind and body. There are nervine tonics in 
herb teas, which are far better under all circumstances, 
more especially in the case of those who have been 
in the habit of indulging to excess, and who, in the very 
nature of things, constitute most the large proportion 
of the class that stand in need of ameliorative treat- 
ment. All needed stimulants can be introduced into 
the system by absorption through the pores, by 
means of bathing and friction with liniments not 
altogether composed of alcohol, strengthening and 
feeding the nervous system but not stimulating. 
While the physical body is weak and the appe- 
tites have lost their desire, the mind should re- 
ceive attention, stimulating ambition and the higher 
and more ennobling aspirations, those which will 
tend to draw the mind into different channels of 
intellectual interest. This should be done by 
carefully refraining from all allusions to the past 
life, and by constantly placing before the mind 
examples of an elevating character by reading and a 
style of conversation addressed to the better nature, 
thereby tending to change the current of magnetism 
that has been dominated wholly by the animal brain, 
giving it direction to a higher and more intelligent 
order. This is practically the modus operandi in all 
well-directed reforms to bring about a change in the 
desire. While the appetite is inflamed or the 



TREA TMENT OF THE INTEMPERA TE. 171 

desire is not appeased, the fire that has been so long 
kindled lies smouldering. A single drop may arouse 
the insane longings that will sweep away all good 
resolutions, entirely reckless of consequences. To 
prevent such unhappy results, no amount of moral 
suasion or preaching of duty or of justice to one's 
self or to others will be of any avail. We might as 
well say to the burning ship: " If you don't stop 
burning, your hull will go to the bottom of the sea." 
It has as much power to stop as the drunkard, so 
long as he can get the means to keep alive the fire. 
You must first extinguish the flames, and then the 
disease will be arrested. In order to accomplish this 
good work, a higher motive must hold and control 
the magnetic wires; a motive which will stimulate 
self-esteem, hope, confidence and will; a motive that 
will impart that high and resistless courage, and can 
only be inspired by strength and lofty aims and 
noble instincts. This must come from placing the intel- 
lectual faculties in the position from which they have 
been dethroned. No class of unfortunates can be 
more deserving of sympathy than drunkards, whose 
fatal inherent desires are beset with temptations to 
gratification on every hand. That which is most 
directly calculated to destroy both soul and body is 
protected by the strong arm of the law. In a land 
of liberty men are made slaves to intemperance, and 



172 TREATMENT OF THE INTEMPERATE. 

the right to do irreparable wrong is permitted, not 
by those who love their fellow-men, but in the most 
selfish interest that can animate our fallen nature. 

To secure successful treatment, professional 
nurses ought fully to understand the necessities of 
the case, and be alive to the importance of watching 
over the mind as well as the body, that both may 
regain natural health and strength at the same time. 
The danger of a relapse is a point which should 
never be lost sight of It may not be improper to 
relate an instance, or case, in connection with this 
subject; one in my own experience: I had labored 
hard to save one from intemperate habits, and had 
good reason to think I had succeeded. After the 
lapse of two years his health required medical aid, 
and the physician prescribed stimulants, which 
carried him beyond all help, as he is now a mental 
wreck — and this is only a sample of every day 
occurrences. 

Hospitals are the resort for many who have no 
family ties to insure a response to their needs, and 
who may be saved through kind and judicious treat- 
ment and the active exercise of a Christian charity, 
— the great need of to-day — a need which ought to 
be a reproach to the spirit of our otherwise humane 
interests. 



TREA TMENT OF THE INTEMPERA TE. 173 

How quickly the volunteers start to man the life- 
boat when their services are needed. There is no 
man so timid that he will not rush to the rescue, risk- 
ing his own life to save those in deadly peril. The 
instinct of his better nature responds before his 
selfish fear has time to speak. But here is an 
anomaly: the soul of man may be lost ere the world, 
with its narrow-mindedness, will vouchsafe a sacri- 
ficial deed, or often, so much as a word. 

I have tried a method of saving men from their 
own destruction while they were drifting towards 
the rapids and would soon have reached the cataract 
and been dashed to pieces, by going to them with true, 
heartfelt sympathy, and pursuading them to look on 
the dark side and on the bright, choose then which 
was best; lead them into the right, and by inspiring 
a true manly spirit, a desire for a noble and better 
life, arousing magnetic attraction through the heart's 
emotions, to the spiritual, appealing to their own 
good sense, in the spirit of loving your neighbor as 
yourself 

" Just a little;" pleads Carl, with sober brow, 

His mind well stored with classic lore; 
"This once, and I pledge you now, 

I will taste of the wine no more." 
He drank and was gone, oh, ask me not where, 

But thou, of that little, beware; 
"Just a little," that is ever the plan, 

To quiet the soul and ruin the man. 



174 TREA TMBNT OP THE INTEMPERA TB. 



%t im-a^ ®£ia. 



He lived just a mile from the village, 
Out there by the fork of the road; 
His farm, by the help of good tillage, 
Increased what he planted and sowed. 
His dwelling was low and old-fashioned; 
The roof was all covered with moss; 
But still by his fixing and patching, 
It kept out the rain and frost. 
He lived very peaceful and quiet; 
We knew him as Jeremy Todd; 
So plain was his dress and his diet, 
The neighbors all said — he was odd. 

The fashions he never would follow, 

Nor try to put on any style, 

But owing a dime or a dollar. 

He would pay it when due with a smile. 

His words were but few and well chosen; 

^Twas clear that he meant what he said; 

His temper not heated nor frozen, 

And calm was the life that he led. 

He did not belong to the meeting. 

And said very little of God; 

But orphans were glad at his greeting, 

And every one said — he was odd. 



TREATMENT OF THE INTEMPERATE. £?$ 



If ever he offered to sell 3'ou 
A cow, or an ox, or a horse, 
He made it his business to tell jou 
Each one of the animal's faults. 
He hired Billy Peters, the cripple. 
To husk out his corn by the day, 
And heaped up the grain in the bushel, 
To measure the wheat for his pay. 
His name was not on the subscription 
To save the poor heathen abroad; 
His neighbors he helped in affliction; 
The people all thought — he was odd. 

He never made any " profession," 

Nor said he had a '^new heart," 

But something he had in possession, 

Of which many more need a part; 

A something that made him so gentle, 

So honest, so kindly and true; 

If not church religion, we venture 

That Jesus would say, " it will do." 

He might, in the church, have been better 

And rendered more service to God; 

He'd more of the " spirit " than " letter," 

And that was what made him so odd. 



176 . TREA TMENT OF THE IN TEMPERA TE. 



The preacher might say he was Godless, 
Because he subscribed to no creed; 
But still it was part of his oddness, 
The wretched and hungry to feed. 
If Jeremy failed of salvation 
Because he staid out of the church, 
We cannot see how in creation, 
Professors will shun the lee lurch, 
Who wear the full garb of the pious. 
But love not their neighbors nor God. 
We choose when our Maker shall try us, 
To be like the old farmer — odd. 

Anon. 



TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. 



Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase), 

Awoke one night from a deep sleep of peace, 

And saw within the moonlight in his room, 

Making it rich and like a lily in bloom. 

An angel writing in a book of gold. 

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold, 

And to the presence in the room he said: 

" What writest thou ?" The vision raised its head 

And, with a look made of all sweet accord, 

"The names of those who love the Lord," 

Replied the angel. Abou spake more low, 

" And is mine one?" said Abou. " Nay, not so." 

But cheerily still, he said " I pray you then 

Write me as one who loves his fellow-men." 

The angel wrote and vanished; the next night 

It came again with a great wakening light, 

And showed the names which love of God had blest, 

Andlo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest. 

Leigh Hunt. 

To receive a blessing through love to our fellow-men, 
which vv^ould inspire good will, and good and kindly 
deeds, would surely be a happiness well worth striv- 
ing for; while to put the beautiful and noble senti- 
ment into practical application, would be not only to 
merit the blessing oneself, but to shed the radiance 
of a blessing where no light from Heaven seemed to 



178 TREA TMENT OF PRISONERS. 

smile — upon those whose iron fortunes lie in dark 
and loathsome places. This is true as referring to 
the inmates of those necessary adjuncts of our 
present civilization — jails and prisons. Those who 
are well need no physician, but it is quite different 
with the poor — not referring so particularly to the 
poor in worldly goods as to the poor in moral sense 
and intellectual endowments; those who are falling 
by the wayside, and ever going astray from the high 
road which is the path of dut}^ — duty to themselves 
as well as others — the unfortunate prisoners who are 
placed in the prison cell, for greater or lesser 
offenses, or, as is sometimes the case, who are guilt- 
less of any offense. 

Oh, ye who prate of charity! here is, indeed, a 
call for charity; a call that all who are not deaf to 
every appeal need not fail to hear. If we read 
understandingly, we will find that we have the very 
highest authority for the exercise of the broadest and 
most active charity. It was this heavenly instinct 
and emotional love for humanity, that impelled Jesus 
when upon the cross not only to pardon the repent- 
ant thief by his side, but to give him the blessed 
assurance that upon that very day he should be with 
Him in paradise. And this pardon and this assur- 
ance, be it remembered, was given in the supreme 
hour of the Savior's sorrow; when heaven and 



TREA TMENT OF PRISONERS, 179 

earth were alike veiled in gloom. " Let him who 
has not sinned, cast the first stone," presents a lesson 
from the same high source. "I was in prison and 
ye visited me not." What simple expression could 
more strikingly convey the idea o{ loneliness, desola- 
tion and despair? At the same time there is in the 
strong and terse utterance,'an implied warning that 
the blessing we crave may not be ours. 

There is no better way in which we may deter- 
mine the true worth of a man than by the nature of 
his feelings toward the unfortunate. It is an uner- 
ring criterion as bearing upon this point. If he feels 
that his superiority over them is so great that he 
cannot afford them a kind word or deed, he may be 
ver}^ safely set down as belonging to the pharisaical 
I-am-holier-than-thou-class; one whose soul is an 
utter stranger to ever}' warm, generous, and noble 
instinct and impulse; one who is to be trusted by 
neither man, woman, nor child. Judged by the true 
touchstone, he is infinitely below many of that very 
class whom he affects to despise and spurn. Man- 
kind are, to an extent not generally appreciated, the 
creatures of circumstances. There are hosts of men 
whose names and escutcheons have been preserved 
from blight and mildew who might, under slightly 
different circumstances, have fallen many degrees 
below some of those who are fated to wear away 



i8o TREA TMENT OF PRISONERS. 

their years in dungeons. All ought to ponder these 
solemn truths. 

In visiting the prison, in what kind of spirit should 
we go, in order to confer benefit upon those who 
need the sympathy of their fellow-men ? Assuredly 
not with scornful words and manner. Such would 
very naturally tend to increase in the heart of the 
unfortunate prisoners a feeling of malevolence and 
revenge. If evil is to be overcome with good, a 
great change is necessary in the present treatment of 
prisoners. There is a too unmistakable manifesta- 
tion of cruelty and heartlessness, which is directly 
calculated to stimulate resistance and counteract 
whatever influence for good may be acccidently 
manifested. Ofttimes there is more genuine manli- 
ness in resistance than in tame submission to injustice, 
contumely and cruelty. We should treat the prisoner 
with consideration for the better spirit within him- 
That good which is in him should be cultivated by 
kindness and good will, with respect for what he may 
be, and for the good that may be wrought in him by 
a Christian spirit and love for our fellow-men. 
Although the circumstances of the case require that 
more or less restraint should be used, and his physi- 
cal well-being ma}^ require exercise in useful labor, 
the higher and better qualities of his keeper ought to 
have full play, and from the promptings of pity, if 



77?^^ TMENT OF PRISONERS. iSr 

from no other consideration, he should be treated 
like a human being. In unnumbered instances those 
who might be saved are practically debarred from 
all humane and civilizing influences by the examples 
of cruelty every day witnessed. These unfortunates 
have much the same nature as others who have a 
differently organized brain; the emotional feeling is 
just as keen, and through kindness and prudent 
considerations much good may be done. If there 
were more of the tribe of Abou Ben Adhem, this 
world would be much better off, not only in the 
present, but it would be more progressive, in trusting 
each other and in doing good to those who are in 
too great a degree incapable of doing good to them- 
selves. Instead of branding and stinging them into 
a moral death, efforts should be made for their moral 
elevation. The present system has too great a 
tendency to make the unfortunates more hardened. 
Let this be reversed, and systematic efforts brought 
in requisition to make them better. By trying this 
course, good will not only be done to those in whose 
behalf this appeal is directly made, but society and 
the world will be the gainer; and in the exercise of 
charity and good will even those who are compara- 
tively good will be the better for it. A heart 
which has the impress of humanity bears some 
redeeming trait. If we look for its manifestation as 



i82 TREA TMENT OF PRISONERS. 

a recompense, in a greater or less degree, for noble 
and humane endeavors, even if we are disappointed, 
we shall at least have erred on the right side. In 
whose behalf can we more properly assume this 
comparatively inexpensive risk than in the case of 
those who are friendless and forlorn; who are shut 
out from the free air and sunlight of Heaven; those 
to whom freedom and hope are meaningless terms^ 
and joy is almost as sad a word as sorrow? 



PRACTICES INIMICAL TO HEALTH. 



Cleanliness is one of the cardinal conditions of 
health. This has come to be well understood by the 
intellijxent. Still there is dannrer of indiscretion, 
even on the part of those who are most earnest in 
observing this primary condition. One great danger 
is hinged upon the practice of making bathing a 
source of luxury, a practice sedulously observed in 
Turkish bathrooms, where the heated air is breathed 
into the lungs with the refuse matter thrown off by 
perspiration, and not unfrequently several persons 
are in the bath at the same time, with different tem- 
peraments and suffering from different diseases, filling 
the air with the noxious odors thrown off* through the 
pores and lungs. Many persons enjoy the soothing, 
dreamy influences. As with the lotus eaters, all the 
cares and anxieties of mind float away amid repose 
and relaxed energies, with the roseate visions of 
indolent happiness. They enjoy the luxury of hav- 
ing some one to work with brush and towel, and 
all the other appliances which serve to make the 



i84 PRACTICES INIMICAL TO HEALTH. 

bath a pleasant pastime. The greatest danger lies 
in this very impulse so soothing, and in the too per- 
suasive inclination of the senses for rest, so seductive 
that many who have the time to spare will submit to 
having their system thus robbed of needed magnet- 
ism. When the surface of the body is heated to an 
unusual temperature the oil that is deposited at every 
pore and nerve cell becomes melted as it were, the 
blood tissues relax and the system is drained of its 
most vital strength. The body has lost its power of 
resistance, and while in this defenceless condition is 
robbed of the very elixir of life. The blood becomes 
depleted and unable to furnish the oil to nourish the 
nerve that comes to the surface of the skin, the 
excretory passages become weak and closed and are 
compelled to wait for the relaxing process of the 
Turkish bath to do its work. No person of ordinary 
strength and possessing anything short of an iron 
constitution can afford the waste of vitality caused 
by this over indulgence. It is far better to have a 
cold water shower bath and a thorough friction, 
which hastens the blood to the surface from the 
sudden cold state to a quick reaction, giving fresh 
vigor and creating healthful magnetic action, which 
aids nature in its allotted work. 

The great inherent law of charity is to help them 
who help themselves. The same irrevocable law 



PR A C TICE S INIMICA L TO HE A LTH. 185 

applies to the physical economy. It needs coopera- 
tive help only, and it was never designed to have its 
work all done by outsiders. When this is imposed 
nature retires discomfited from the field and lets 
you do it, which inevitably proves a failure. 

Many ladies have been deluded with the idea 
that the best way to gain health or retain it is to 
wash all of the vitality out of the system in order to 
wash out disease, ignoring the unmistakable fact that 
it is the strongest magnetic living principle that is 
the quickest to respond to the demand, and that 
where natural vitality is weakened the body requires 
stimulus ; stimulus of new life— magnetism ; the 
life properties that will feed the famished nerves and 
blood tissues. 

Baths of tonic effect, such as salt, ammonia, 
mustard, hops, catnip, smartweed, boneset, alkalies, 
whatever the patient's peculiar ailments may be, 
will assimilate with this principle and tend directly 
to the neutralization of the disease. The physical 
system is at the mercy of the intelligent organization. 

HEALTH IN DRESS. 

The styles of dress of the present age partake 

decidedly more of the nature of the fashionable than 

the comfortable. The pleasures of art are usually 

more attractive than the seemingly negative merit of 

13 



1 86 PRACTICES INIMICAL TO HEALTH. 

a natural development and the comforts of suitable 
clothing. A fashionable lady once remarked in my 
hearing, that she would be willing to wear a pin 
sticking in her face if it looked nice, a remark which 
struck me forcibly as the key to the idea which is 
uppermost in the minds of a vast majority of the 
so-called fashionable class. It is unnecessary to 
point out the injurious effects of tight lacing, or tight 
dressing. Those who practice it are well aware of 
these effects; there are few or none who sin from 
ignorance. But it is to be hoped that mothers will 
watch over their daughters and prevent the warping 
of both mind and body in time to save them from 
fashionable but fatal errors. This is a matter 
wherein the happiness of a precious life may be 
secured or lost. 

The disposition of the clothing in such a manner 
that the warmth may be equalized is also a matter 
well worthy of attention. 

A FRETFUL DISPOSITION 

is not only exhaustive of some of the best powers 
of the individual, but it imparts a disturbing and 
unhappy influence to all who come in contact with 
those who may be so unfortunately disposed. What 
can be more injurious and unjust to others than the 
diffusion of an irritating magnetic poison, contaminat 



PRACTICES INIMICAL TO HEALTH. 187 

ing the moral and mental atmosphere with com- 
bative elements, interrupting the peace and harmony 
of every household in which one of these uncom- 
fortable individuals is found? The effect upon the 
healthful actions of the physical system is very 
marked, and natural good sense ought to be the 
teacher in learning how to overcome the habit of 
persistently finding fault with everything, going over 
in detail all the little causes of uneasiness; dwelling 
upon every unfavorable symptom; watching the 
pulse, and the heat, and cold sensations of the body; 
noting the appetite; making each and every or imagi- 
nary symptom a cause of complaint, and thereby con- 
stantly adding to the trouble by sending currents of 
electric will-power tinctured with the irritable ner- 
vous fluids, and the elements of disease, that might 
be thrown ofl^ through other channels, if the mind had 
not given the wrong direction to their course and 
increased the difhculty. Nothing can be more hurt- 
ful than such a habit. It is both foolish and useless 
so far as any possible good is concerned. The 
opposite character will make sunshine and happy 
conditions for the weary, bringing into play a mag- 
netism at once quieting and strengtheninjgf, and 
giving cheerful happiness to all that come within the 
radiance of its influence. To be the happy pos- 
sessor of a cheerful spirit, one that can control the 



1 88 PR A CTICE S IN I MICA L TO HEAL TH. 

nervous conditions and natural anxieties that come 
with every day's experiences with every one more or 
less, will bring one nearer to heaven. Indeed 
heaven is within and without. It is a blessing that 
will bear fruit for its possessor and dispense happi- 
ness to others. 

INDIGESTION. 

Perhaps the most universal fault of commission is 
in our intemperate eating. We are all guilty of this 
most injurious practice — not occasionally, but habitu- 
alty, and almost uniformly, from the cradle to the 
grave. It is the bane of our infancy and youth, of 
our maturity and age; and infinitely more common 
than intemperance in the use of stimulating liquors; 
and the aggregate of mischief through the practice 
is much greater. Go to our dining-rooms, our 
nurseries, our fruit stores, our confectioneries, and 
our pleasure gardens; go even to the sick room, and 
you will always find evidence the most abundant. 
The frightful mess often consists of all sorts of edible 
materials that can be collected and crowded together, 
and their measure is the endurance and capacity of 
the stomach; even in sickness, when nature enjoins 
abstinence by depriving the patient of an appetite, 
over-eating is indulged in on the plea that without it 
they cannot regain strength or will become worse. 



PRACTICES INIMICAL TO HEALTH. 189 

Beware of the bait! Let nature decide; observe 
what agrees with the system, and what does not, and 
let him forbear from everything which experience 
proves to be injurious. By diligent application and the 
practice of this rule, a good state of health may be 
enjoyed and physic or a physician seldom needed. 

While the blessings attendant upon the free cir- 
culation of fresh air have now become very generally 
recognized, the healthful, revivifying and inspiring 
influences of sunshine seem to be a point not so 
generally understood. The great source of light 
and heat being in itself one of the great factors of 
the universe — in fact the greatest — it would not be 
consonant with the beneficent plan of Providence if it 
were fraught with anything like deleterious influ- 
ences, but this proposition refers to mere negative 
influences. That it is essentially health inspiring is 
proven by the most unquestionable evidence: those 
who pass their lives in subterranean dwellings habit- 
ually pine away, and their cheeks lose the roseate 
hue of health even where there is freest ventilation. 



*^ Let in the golden sunlight, 

Yes, open wide the door. 
And gloom will quickly vanish — 

Life's brightness comes once more. 



igo PRACTICES INIMICAL TO HEALTH. 

Drink in the healthy nectar 

That God doth give to thee — 
The bracing air of Heaven, 

The light so pure and free. 

Throw open every window, 

And sadness will depart; 
The sky will smile upon you, 

And beautify the heart," 

The practice of changing clothing in cold weather 
without first causing warmth to be imparted 
to the garments to be put on, is a dangerous one, 
especially with the weak and those who take very 
little exercise afterwards; it is better to warm the 
clothing to prevent congestion from cold. 



EXAMPLES OF TREATMENT, 



I HAVE thought it best to give some cases where the 
treatment has been simple and successful; giving one 
instance out of many treated in the same way with 
the same result. 

Soon after my recovery from the long sickness 
mentioned elsewhere, my father was taken sick. 
He was sixty-five years old ; had never been sick in 
his life, except when a young man on first going to 
live in Michigan he had ague. He now had ague 
again, and was well dosed with calomel; took cold; 
typhoid fever set in, and his physician thinking (with 
his strong constitution) he could bear strong medi- 
cine, gave calomel and tartar emetic freely, and 
salivation, with inflammation of the lungs, bowels, 
kidneys and liver was the result. His case was 
pronounced hopeless, the physicians declaring that 
he had had a relapse and could not live six hours. 
His children and friends were summoned to see him 
for the last time, and when I arrived all treatment 
had been given up. 



192 EXAMPLES OF TREATMENT. 

I had received inspirational teaching, and had a 
power of magnetism very little understood by me at 
the time, but I w^as aware that I worked from an 
invisible power, which seemed to be within and with- 
out me. I went to work over my father in obedience 
to this inspiration, and covered him with poultices of 
herbs, changing them, and using thorough magnetic 
friction. I bathed him with brandy and cayenne 
pepper tea, and when sinking spells came on, gave a 
tablespoonful of gin with part of an ^g^ beaten up 
in it. For four days this was the treatment. He 
had several sinking spells, but was revived by the 
stimulant and the heat generated by friction. In ten 
days he was out of danger, able to sit up and take 
nourishment without having taken any medicine 
internally except the gin. I kept up the magnetic 
treatment night and day until his heart beat regu- 
larly. The effect of the calomel and tartar emetic 
remained; he was always lame, and ten years later it 
broke out in a dry, feverish sore on his lip. It was 
called cancer by the doctors, and treated as such, but 
all the remedies used only increased the virulence of 
the disease which spread rapidly, eating into the 
throat until death put an end to his suffering. It 
was the efiect of the remedies given for the fever, 
which were not thrown out of the system, and 
resulted in a corroding sore which was called cancer. 



EXAMPLES OE TREATMENT. 193 

I do not mean to say that no medicine should be 
given, but I do mean to say that nature should be 
aided in relieving the system of disease through the 
natural channels. Instead of cathartics and such 
internal treatment as will draw the diseased action 
inward, something should be done to throw it out 
through the evacuating tubes provided for that pur- 
pose in the skin. All inflammatory diseases generate 
gases, and if the natural channels are closed they find 
unnatural lodging places, poison the blood and nerve 
fluids, and cause complicated diseases, all derived 
from the intercepted currents of magnetism, which, 
when flowing freely through the body, are the 
in vigor ators of all life. 

Colonel Virginius A. McEllroy. 

During the war of the rebeUion I was in a medi- 
cal institute in Brooklyn, N. Y. A lady called on 
me and asked me to accompany me to her home on 
Oxford street to see her son and diagnose his case, 
saying that after eight months' trial with as many 
diflerent physicians, no two of whom had agreed, 
none of them had helped him. 

I found the A^oung man afflicted with scurvy. 
He was twenty-nine years old; a Colonel in the rebel 
army who had been taken prisoner and confined in 
Fort Delaware, where he had remained for four 



194 



EXAMPLES OF TREA TMENT. 



months. His name was Virginius A. McEllroy. 
He was not well when taken there, and his sickness 
increased from confinement, unsuitable food and the 
want of proper medical attention. There was at the 
time some trouble about exchanging prisoners, and 
as he refused to take the oath of allegiance, there 
seemed no release for him. He had chronic diar- 
rhoea, and was greatly reduced and had been con- 
fined to his bed four months when his mother pre- 
vailed on him to take the oath not to bear arms 
against the Union in the struggle going on between 
the two sections, in case she could procure a pardon 
for him. She went to Washington with a petition, 
a total stranger among hostile people, and waited 
for many weary hours in the ante-room for audience 
with Mr. Lincoln. At length Senator Chandler, of 
Michigan, noted her weary and anxious face, and 
inquired her business. She told him, and he gave 
her his arm and took her into the President's room. 

" Here is a mother," he said " come to ask 
pardon for her son." " I cannot refuse the mothers," 
said Mr. Lincoln. "If he will take the oath, I will 
sign his pardon and you may take him home. May 
he prove worthy of such a mother. Get him out of 
prison and God bless you." 

He was removed from the prison on a bed, and 
for four months had been under the treatment of five 



EXAMPLES OE TREA TMENT. 195 

different physicians, two of them allopathic and three 
homoepathic. They had just been in counsel over 
his case, and two of them delivered the opinion that 
he could not live three days, while the others thought 
he might live a week or two. They left him some 
powders and never came back again. 

There was a kind of proud flesh, or scurvy, all 
around his teeth, almost covering them, and lumps 
of a dark red color under his tongue. I had never 
seenanything like it. There was serious ulceration 
of the bowels, and he was emaciated to skin and 
bones. After the doctors gave up the case as hope- 
less, his friends decided to let me try what I could do 
for him, and I managed the case in the following way: 

I first applied poultices of smart-weed over the 
bowels and rubbed him twice a day with brandy 
with good results. I then made a liniment of essen- 
tial oils — alcohol and cod liver oil, and rubbed him 
with that instead of the brandy, being careful always 
to rub downward, from the head toward the feet. I 
also gave a tablespoonful of golden seal tea three 
times a day. For diet — four teaspoonsful of rice 
flour, boiled two hours in one pint of milk, with a 
tablespoonful of lime-water to each pint of the 
porridge. After two weeks an ^^^ was beaten in it, 
and of this food he could have all he wanted, but 
nothing else for five weeks. At the end oi that 



196 EXAMPLES OF TREATMENT. 

time his stomach could dispose of broiled quail and 
other light food without injury. A strong tea of 
golden seal, used as a wash, cured his mouth in a 
week. 

In four weeks his legs' began to swell, and 
fifty-two boils were developed at once on his feet and 
legs. These drew the disease in his blood down- 
ward, away from the vital organs, and they kept 
discharging for several weeks. 

After continuing the treatment for two months,, 
he was able to walk half a mile, and he called on one 
of his old doctors — Dr. Richardson, who did not at 
first recognize him. When he did, he exclaimed in a 
startled voice: 

" Can you be the man we gave up to die some 
weeks ago?" 

" I am," said the Colonel. 

" Are you sure you are in the body ? " 

** Yes," was the answer, " I am more certain 
of that fact than I was when I saw you last." 

The doctor examined him and declared that he 
was as sound as a brick, and at his request Colonel 
McEllroy explained how the cure was effected. 

This case was treated so simply and with such 
good results that I give the entire history of it, that by 
chance some one else may profit by it. I have no 
doubt that the medicines administered by the doctors 



EXAMPLES OF TREA TMENT. 



197 



were some help to him, but they were not enough . 
Stimulating through the skin, and feeding the nerves 
aud blood with oils, as their refreshing properties 
were absorbed through the pores and taken up by 
the blood, were the principal agents of cure. The 
action is by the same principle as that which takes 
the oxygen from the air into the blood through the 
walls of the air cells in the lungs. 

The rubbing created action, revived the surface 
of the body, and set in motion the nerve magnetism 
which carried strength to the spinal nerves fro m the 
other sets of nerves, arousing the vibratory negative 
and positive action of the system. By friction and 
forcing the circulation downward, the diseased blood 
was driven into the limbs, where it was safe to let it 
work out by the processes of suppuration. A sort 
of draught was made in the circulation, and all the 
diseased blood corpuscles contributed each its mite 
to add to the vigor with which the disease worked 
its way out of the system. 

The sick rebel was slow to give up his spirit of 
rebellion, the badge of which was his position in the 
army, and just as slowly the accumulations of disease 
retired from his system, making its last appearance 
in a running sore under the big toe nail, which, how- 
ever, dried up in time. 



198 EXAMPLES OE TREATMENT. 



A young man, clerk in a prominent jewelry store 
in Brooklyn, had typhoid fever, which had run forty 
days when I was called to see him. He lay in a 
stupor, and seemed to be dying. There had been 
no action of the bowels for five days, and his body 
was bloated and hard — his pulse a mere fluttering. 

I had been out of doors nearty all day in Central 
Park, and on the East River, and had gained fresh 
magnetism from nature. When I entered the room, 
in which were man}^ of the young man's friends, all 
strangers to me, I felt unusually timid and nervous, 
but went to the bed and put one of my hands under 
the patient's head and the other on his forehead, and 
soon felt a powerful battery at work within me. I for- 
got all present; my hands thrilled with electric power, 
which vibrated from my head to my feet, going out 
through my hands to the sick man's head. All present 
saw the sparkling light around and over my hands. 
In less than ten minutes he opened his eyes, a warm 
perspiration appeared all over his body, his breathing 
became soft and regular, and his pulse natural, 
although weak. The magnetism ©f his body had 
received a reinforcement and acquired free circula- 
tion. 

1 made a poultice of henbane leaves steeped in 
brandy, and covered the bowels. While the brandy 
stimulated, the henbane softened the swelled and 



EXAMPLES OF TREATMENT. iqq 

bloated intestines, and after gentle friction in two 
hours he was relieved, and in two weeks he was 
restored to health with mild remedies and magnetic 
treatment, which simply aided nature to help herself. 
I had a similar case in St. Clair, Michigan. The 
man had been unconscious for four weeks, in a deli- 
rious sleep or lethargy. He breathed heavily with 
his mouth wide open, took no food, and had no con- 
sciousness of anything about him. The treatment 
had been brandy and quinine once in two hours. I 
saw that his head was congested with the medicine, 
which was given to keep up his strength, although 
the case was considered hopeless by the physicians. 
I gave his head the same treatment that served my 
Brooklyn patient so well, with the same result. But 
the heart being in a more excited state, sharp pains 
continued to dart through his left side. I followed 
the directions which came to me, and had a cow's 
horn scraped into fine shavings, enough to make a 
good sized pad; this I wet with tincture of arnica 
and laid over the heart, and in an hour from the time 
I began the treatment he was able to talk rationally. 
I stopped the quinine and brandy and gave raw Qgg 
with a little gin — not to take away the stimulant too 
soon, and to add nourishment with it, and the man 
got well. 



200 EXAMPLES OF TREA TMENT. 

I will relate particulars of a case which came 
strangely to my notice and care. About ten o'clock 
at night, I heard a voice say in anxious tones, " Go 
quickly to G. M's house; his wife is dying." I imme- 
diately obeyed the summons; called a servant and 
hastened to the house, which was distant from my 
own about three blocks. . I found many persons 
there, and the physician had just pronounced the 
woman to be dead. He was mistaken, but if noth- 
ing had been done for the woman, she would have 
been dead in a few minutes. Her condition was 
caused by a great loss of blood, from what cause is 
immaterial. 

As soon as I got in the house I called for mustard 
and whisky, and spread the mixture on a cloth large 
enough to cover the whole chest, stomach and heart, 
and began to rub and slap the patient to excite the 
circulation; used hot applications; put mustard 
on the limbs, and after two hours found the skin 
getting red under the mustard on the chest and a 
return of sensation to the brain. I made beef tea and 
gave it in small doses as soon as possible; the next 
day a tonic, and the woman is alive to-day. 

I know that a living magnetism is imparted to the 
patient by my treatment, but proper remedies may 
succeed without it. 



EXAMPLES OF TREATMENT. 



It is always better to keep trying* restorative 
measures as long as there is life. Many persons die 
simply from taking the doctor's word that death is in- 
evitable. They are as liable to make mistakes as other 
people, and seeing their remedies fail they become 
discouraged too soon. They often feel the need of 
more knowledge, both of disease and proper reme- 
dial agencies. If they would study nature's laws a 
little more closely and endeavor to act in accord with 
her methods of cure, welcoming from any source 
remedies not found in their medical science, it would 
be a gain to them and to the world. The experience 
of those who have studied life and nature in their 
relations to disease, even though unlearned in the 
technical knowledge of schools, may be of great 
value to the most highly educated physician. 

In the year 1880, I was called to see a lady at 
twelve o'clock at night, who had been sick nearly 
two years with what was supposed to be chronic 
diarrhoea and dilated valves of the heart. Her eyes 
were enlarged and pushed out from their sockets, 
and her neck full under the chin like goitre. She was 
the mother of fvNO, children; thirty-eight years old; 
never weighed over ninety-five pounds, and at this 
time weighed less than lifty pounds. She was sup- 
posed to be dying; her stomach was in spasms, and 

she was not able to swallow. The doctors had 

14 



202 EXAMPLES OF TREA TMENT. 

given up all hope of her recovery, and narrowed her 
life to a few brief hours. I believe that as long as 
there is life there is hope, and I wet my hands in 
some liniment, laid one on her throat and the other 
on her stomach, affording almost instant relief; in five 
minutes she was able to swallow slowly a little milk 
with whisky in it, a teaspoonful at a time. I then 
began to move my hands over the stomach and 
bowels (the bowels had fallen flat), using the lini- 
ment, when she was able to take some water and 
more milk. I continued the gentle movement of my 
hands downward until 1 reached her feet. I kept it 
up for an hour when her circulation was restored. All 
convulsive action ceased; she could swallow with 
ease; went to sleep and was more comfortable than 
she had been for a long time. I gave her magnetic 
treatment every day for a time, and controlled the 
diarrhoea somewhat by rice flour boiled in milk. I 
saw, however, that the cause of the trouble was a 
loose membrane hanging in the rectum. An enema 
of extract of witch hazel brought ^he membrane 
away. It was a white skin four inches long and two 
inches wide. That was the end of the diarrhoea, and 
she could now eat anything she liked, according to 
her strength. I continued to use liniment, oils, 
and ointments, with magnetic treatment, and her 
recovery was steady. The enlargement of the throat 



EXAMPLES OF TREATMENT. 203 

disappeared, and her eyes gradually resumed their 
natural appearance. I continued the magnetic treat- 
ment for three months, when she was entirely 
restored to health, and so remains. This was con- 
sidered a wonderful cure. The irritation in the 
lower bowel caused all the trouble, and the physi- 
cians never discovered it. 

A boy eight years old had been going to school 
during the warm weather, eating very little food and 
drinking strong tea. The last day of school he 
attended a pic-nic, and came home at night tired and 
nervous, and for supper wanted nothing but tea. 
I was visiting at the house, and the boy's father 
accompanied me to the house of a mutual friend to 
spend the evening. About eight o'clock we were 
sent for, as the boy was taken strangely sick. A 
physician was called, who pronounced the disease a 
bad case of spinal meningitis. He said he had treated 
seven cases and lost them all, and he was reluctant 
to do anything without the advice and counsel of an 
older and more experienced doctor. Some time 
passed waiting for the arrival of the other ph3^sician. 

The boy had spasms of the back of the head and 
neck, accompanied by a convulsive action which 
drew his head back toward the spine. The spasms 
occurred every few minutes, growing stronger and 
more frequent. I began to feel anxious, and thought 



204 EXAMPLES OF TREATMENT. 

it was strange that I did not think of anything to do. 
I could think of no remedy, but it came to my mind 
to look into his eyes and see if the pupil was con- 
tracted, or dilated; but the lamp-light prevented our 
seeing well, and the doctor gave up trying. I was 
impressed to take the child's hands in mine and make 
him look at me, talking to him all the time, asking 
questions that he must answer, and in a humorous, 
nonsensical way exciting and interesting his mind. 
At the same time I was conscious of a strong electric 
current of magnetism through my arms and hands 
which seemed to be drawing the boy towards me 
while my will and thought were holding his mind. 
All the persons in the room seemed to enter into the 
scheme for making light magnetism, laughing over 
and joining in the idle talk and filling the room 
with vibratory magnetic waves. 

By concentrating his attention on myself, and 
making conductors of the nerves from the back of 
the neck through the arms, I drew away from the 
front brain the morbid congestion, and sent an elec- 
tric current through his arms to the spine, and so to 
the brain, drawing away by magnetic attraction the 
diseased gases which had collected and were oppress- 
ing the lower brain. This was accomplished by 
acting on the physical and mental at the same time. 



EXAMPLES OF TREA TMENT. 205 

The trouble was over in twenty minutes, and the 
incident shows the power of the magnetic will. 

The Indians' Wild Medicine Dance produces 
similar effects on the patient within their circle. 
They create a light animal magnetism by exercising 
their bodies in dancing and singing, and both animal 
and spiritual magnetism is developed. Their swift, 
swaying movements through the atmosphere gene- 
rate electric currents through which magnetic ema- 
nations are conveyed to the object of their combined 
efforts. They see the effect without knowing the 
cause, and in their various dances, as the corn dance, 
the bear dance, and others, which are semi-religious 
exercises, they experience the exhilarating effect of 
their combined magnetism in the strength and 
courage they seek, for carrying out their purposes. 
The influence is something like that in the old-fash- 
ioned revival meeting, when the power of the Holy 
Ghost, the magnetism of the people assembled, was 
at work. 



2o6 EXAMPLES OF TREATMENT. 

SCARLET FEVER. 

Scarlet fever is a germ which is absorbed into 
the blood through the lungs with the oxygen which 
is inhaled. The absorption takes place through the 
walls ot the air cells. Each globule of blood becomes 
innoculated; its warm, magnetic life gives the germ 
power to develop and grow. When it swells it 
causes congestion and fever, and has then reached 
its highest stage of development. The blood cor- 
puscle has become a shell containing an acrid fluid 
which bursts open, looking to the clairvoyant eye 
like a tiny elder blossom. This acrid fluid is dis- 
charged into the sweat glands, and nature labors to 
force it to the surface before its life activities 
perish. When it reaches the surface it appears 
as a fine scarlet rash, and if the natural action 
of the skin is in free exercise, it dries to a thin 
scale which loosens from the skin and the patient is 
soon well. 

Remedies should be rubbed into the pores to 
attract this disease to the surface, as it is in the blood 
and not in the stomach. Acids destroy the virus and 
prevent the death of the germ before it reaches the 
surface. The acid juice of rhubarb or pieplant 
is a sovereign remedy. Rubbed into the pores of 
the skin it cuts the attachments formed by con- 



EXAMPLES OF TREATMENT. 207 

gestion and inflammation. It should be applied with 
pressure enough to force the circulation vigorously- 
through the flesh, as the disease is all near the skin. 
The friction will break the little shell that holds the 
fluid and cause it to discharge into the sweat glands, 
where it will be drawn to the surface before it loses 
its living principle and becomes a dead putrefying 
matter. If it does not pass off freely through the 
skin it decays, generating a poisonous gas which is 
aborbed back into the blood and becomes a blood 
poison. In its efforts to escape through the natural 
channels, the glands of the stomach and throat, it 
permeates the mucous membrane and destroys life. 
If the disease is controlled in its progress in this stage, 
local disease will appear in the head, ears, throat, lungs 
and kidne3"s, the result of the poison deposited in 
the system. This can be prevented in every case by 
proper treatment in time. The acid of pieplant is 
good in all fevers, and if the disease should prove to 
be someting else, the treatment will be useful. 
Measles, chicken pox and kindred diseases may be 
treated in the same way, giving a slight emetic when 
there is a bilious tendency, and a warm drink of oat 
coffee, the oats browned and prepared like ordinary 
coffee. 

There is nothing better than pieplant, but other 
acids may be used, as tea of sumach berries, whey 



2o8 EXAMPLES OF TREA TMENT. 

of sour milk, sour beer yeast. A compress wet 
with the acid, warm, should be wrapped around the 
body, closely covered to keep it warm until the rash 
is all out, then bathe with the same for three days, 
with as much friction as the patient can bear. When 
scarlet fever is treated in this manner, there is no 
disease left in the system to create trouble afterwards. 
In all diseases of an eruptive character, the 
remedies should be on the surface, with an emetic 
and drinks that produce perspiration. 



SMALL POX. 

My first case ot small-pox was my brother, 
thirty-five years old, who had been vaccinated when 
he was four years old. He v/as a lumberman, and 
was in the woods several miles from home when he 
was taken with a severe chill, congestion of the 
lungs and pain all over him. He came home and I 
gave him the following treatment: 

Warm herb poultices over the lungs for two 
hours, then put his feet in water strong with cayenne 
pepper and as hot as he could bear it. I next rubbed 
him with hot liniment until his flesh was as hot as he 
could bear, and got him to bed covered very warm. 
The next day I gave him an ipecac emetic, and kept 



EXAMPLES OF TREA TMENT. 209 

him vomiting with warm water until he was in a pro- 
fuse perspiration. The fever left him and he slept 
well that night, and the next morning thirty or 
lorty pustules were out, not very sore, and they soon 
dried up. He took a bath as hot as he could bear 
the water, with plenty of soap, rubbing himself 
vigorously, and the exercise increased the circulation. 
He dressed in clean, warm clothes, ate some break- 
fast and, with the exception of the pustules, felt per- 
fectly well. I treated six cases of small-pox in the 
same way with equally good results, and am con- 
vinced that to aid the disease in coming to the sur- 
face, there to throw off the poison before it has time 
to infect the blood, is the proper method of cure.- 
The disease must pass off through the pores of the 
skin, and it may be thrown out in the form of per- 
spiration before it culminates in virus or poisonous 
matter. The bowels should be kept open with a 
mild cathartic, and the diet must be simple. There 
is no need of powerful medicines, and morphine 
especially, which is given to relieve the pain, is the 
most injudicious of remedies. It deadens the circula- 
tion, which ought rather to be excited and increased 
to force the disease to the surface of the body. 



EXAMPLES OF TREATMENT. 



TREATMENT FOR CHOLERA MORBUS. 

After thorough friction give the neutralizing 
cordial, a teaspoonful once in thirty minutes. Rub 
the body all over with dry mustard, then with hot lini- 
ment every half hour — the spine very thoroughly — as 
long as there is perspiration. As soon as the body is 
warm all convulsive action of the stomach will cease. 
The fermentations in the stomach affect the spine, 
causing the limbs to cramp, and thorough treatment 
of the spine will stop the cramping. Doses of morphine 
and brandy is the usual treatment given by physi- 
cians, the brandy causing a local heat in the somach, 
while the morphine deadens its action, and also that 
of the liver. Stimulation from the surface has a 
general effect, equalizing the circulation and giving 
■strength to the nervous force to expel the gases 
through natural channels. After the cramping sub- 
sides, give a teaspoonful of tincture of ginger and 
fifteen drops of paregoric, after that some nourish- 
ment, commencing with a tablespoonful of beef tea 
once in twenty minutes. I have treated the most 
severe cases of cholera morbus in this way with per- 
fect success. Courage and confidence are necessary 
rfor bringing about desirable results. 



EXAMPLES OF TREA TMENT. 



DIPHTHERIA. 



This disease is a blood poison, and I believe it is 
chiefly caused by gaseous effluvia of coal smoke 
uniting with the malaria in the atmosphere. After 
generating in the human flesh it becomes more 
malignant. Every breath exhaled is laden v^ith 
poisonous germs which lodge in the hair and cloth- 
ing of those in attendance. A dense smoke of burn- 
ing hickor}^ will cleanse and purify the atmosphere and 
house where a diphtheritic patient has been breathing. 
This smoke is good for the patient, as it contains 
the alkali of wood ashes. Bags of dry hickory ashes 
around the throat are also valuable. Stimulate the 
patient with cayenne pepper tea, and let him gargle 
and swallow some of it. I have found Radway's 
Ready Relief good. A liniment of one ounce of beef 
gall in one quart of alcohol to bathe the throat fre- 
quently and to rub over the whole body is an excellent 
remedy, also to bathe with weak lye. 

A wine glass full of sour milk whey with a 
tablespoonful of yeast is of great value. 



EXAMPLES OF TREATMENT. 



CAUSE OF APOPLEXY AND PARALYSIS. 

When the blood becomes congested from the 
effects of too much and too rich food, or stimulants 
of any kind, the circulation is slow, loses vitality and 
produces a gaseous effluvia, which works its way 
through the mucus membrane towards the heart, or 
emotional gland, and the base of the brain. When 
this gas has accumulated so as to inflate the mem- 
brane to its utmost capacity, it will break the barriers 
and escape, sometimes so sudden and with such 
force as to stop all circulation between the heart and 
brain, forcing the blood into the heart, or brain,, 
causing apoplexy or paralysis or both, and it is this 
gas that is invariably the cause, in ninety-nine cases- 
out of a hundred. The gas forces the blood to the head 
and heart; either breaking the nerve or tearing it 
from its foundation. > 

Great attention should be given to the condition 
of the blood, as a state of fermentation will produce 
gas, and gas will explode; with its force press the 
blood and break the tissues, arteries and nerves. 
Keep the blood in circulation by outside treatment;, 
the pores free and active; the stomach sweet; and 
take only as much food as the system needs. 



EXAMPLES OF TREA TMENT. 213 

A CASE OF PLEURISY. 

A man had fallen into the water on a cold day 
several miles from home, wearing his wet clothing 
until he arrived home. He took a severe cold, 
which settled in his side. When I saw him, a week 
afterward, he was salivated, blistered, and had been 
bled until he fainted. The pain increased, and he 
was so nervous that he could not lie still. Morphine 
only made him worse. His body was so cold that it 
seemed as if under the effect of an ague chill all the 
time. I filled two jugs with hot water, put one at 
his feet, the other by his side, covered him with 
warm blankets, then made a large goblet full ot hot 
brandy sling, tolerably strong, which he drank. I 
then placed my hand on his forehead, and he was 
asleep in less than five minutes. He slept four hours, 
and perspired so freely as to wet the blankets. When 
he waked I gave him another glass full of the stimu- 
lant, and he again fell asleep. After the first five 
minutes he was perfectly free from pain, and it did 
not return. 

Such a simple and natural remedy ought to have 
been thought of without an inspiration, but science 
takes the longest road, and often misses the way. It 
is a great pity that people do not exercise their own 



214 



EXAMPLES OF TREATMENT. 



good sense and try simple remedies first before 
resorting to drugs, which deaden the pain only for a 
time. 

A CASE OF SCARLET FEVER. 

I happened to be in a small village, where I was to 
remain over the Sabbath. A little girl of four years 
was ill with scarlet fever, and the physician in 
attendance had not succeeded in bringing the rash to 
the surface. The child was suffering great pain in 
her head, and was screaming at every breath, and 
constantly moving and turning her head. The 
parents, as well as the physician, were greatly 
alarmed. I was- requested to go and see the child^ 
which I did, and concluded to try my remedy if the 
friends were willing. They expressed their un- 
qualified assent. I took some pieplant stalks and 
pressed out the juice, with which I wet the patient's 
head and hair, covering it with a close hood, which I 
removed in ten minutes, when I found the head dry 
and wet it again. The mother was walking back 
and forth with the child in her arms. The third 
time the head was wet the child fell asleep. By this 
time the scarlet rash was all out through every pTDre. 
I wet a cloth and spread over the chest and bowels. 
The result of the treatment was that the child was 
free from all pain and fever in five hours, and in 
three days it was playing about the house. 



EXAMPLES OF TREA TMENT. 



A CASE OF CANKER IN THE STOMACH. 

I was sent for to see a very sick lady some 
seventy miles away. When I arrived at the resi- 
dence of the patient I saw that the ailment was canker 
in the stomach. She could not retain either food 
or medicine, and was extremely nervous. I applied 
pie plant, or rhubarb, over the stomach and bathed, 
the whole body with it, repeating the bath three 
times through the day, and keeping the poultice over 
the stomach all the time. I administered a tea of 
slipery elm flour, and worm wood, a tablespoonful 
at a time, which she retained. The next morning 
the surface of her chest and stomach was covered 
with canker sores. She was able to eat some break- 
fast, and required no further attention. In this fam- 
ily were seven children, all of whom, with their 
mother, were cured of scrofulous humor in the blood 
by drinking red clover tea every day for one year. 



A CASE OF MEASLES. 

A case of measles was cured by rubbing the 
body with the juice of pie plant Three applications.- 
brought the disease to the surface, and in four days 
the patient was well. Warm catnip tea was given 



2i6 EXAMPLES OF TREATMEN7\ 

with one tablespoonful of the syrup of rhubarb. This 
treatment is so simple that it requires sometimes 
considerable persuasive argument to insure a trial. 



HOW I HAVE TREATED TYPHOID FEVER. 

First bathe the body all over with weak Xyo, 
water; then make a poultice of pieplant, if it can be 
procured, if not, sour beer yeast; thicken it with 
slippery elm flour; cover the spine and back from the 
neck to the end of the spine with the poultice; 
change every four hours. Apply the same over the 
liver and stomach six hours out of the twenty-four. 
When taken off use thorough friction and a knead- 
ing of the stomach and bowels, in order to break the 
congestion and aid the discharge of bile and morbid 
secretions. Dissolve a piece of hyposulphite of soda 
as large as a pea in a wine glass full of water and 
administer three times a day. This will remove the 
germs of malaria. At the same time this is adminis- 
tered get also two ounces of the tincture of Peruvian 
bark, one ounce of sweet spirits of nitre, and ten 
drops of the tincture of aconite; give one tablespoon- 
ful in three tablespoonsful of water every four hours. 
Give two mandrake pills at night and a tablespoon- 
ful of the syrup of rhubarb in the morning, repeating 
.this if necessary, and place a fresh hop pillow under 



EXAMPLES OF TREA TMENT. 217 

the head, taking care that plenty of fresh hops 
are in the room. The poultice extracts the fever 
before it reaches the head or lungs. 



A SUN BATH. 

The nature of a sun bath is very little understood 
b}^ the many who avail themselves of its invigor- 
ating influence. So long as benefit is received the 
practice should be continued. At the same time 
there is much danger attending the exposure of the 
naked body in the open air without using certain 
precautions in order to prevent taking cold. 

I saw in California a four-story building used for 
sua baths. There was no roof, and the walls were 
seven feet in height. The patients passed up 
through a trap door in the floor and usually 
remained from twenty minutes to one hour, having 
thorough friction all over the body afterward. My 
theory is to remain in the sun five minutes at first, 
then retire to a shady place and rub the body briskly 
with a brush and towel; then expose the body to the 
sun for ten minutes, then retire and use friction 
upon the body again, repeating this process alter- 
nately. The first exposure heats the surface, the 
friction opens the pores; the next exposure to the 

.sun's rays excites magnetic action, and the negative 

15 



2i8 EXAMPLES OF TREA TMENT. 

and positive poles begin to vibrate stronger, inas- 
much as one power cannot act without the other 
within the human system. The same powers are at 
work in the atmosphere, attracting from the body 
the Hfeless matter, which substance is no longer con- 
trolled by human magnetism, and the physical ener- 
gies throw it off. At the same time the body inhales 
oxygen from the air, and the friction produces 
activity and equalizes the effect. If the patients are 
weak they should have attendants who understand 
the case, and who are sufficiently intelligent to 
appreciate what is required of them to prevent 
unhappy results. Great benefit may be derived 
from this treatment, especially in the case of con- 
sumptives. 

A WET PACK BATH. 

Make a strong solution of hops, pennyroyal and 
spearmint; bathe the body all over with the fluid as- 
hot as the patient can bear for ten minutes, accom- 
pan3dng the application with thorough friction. 
Have a bed or lounge prepared with warm blankets; 
wet a sheet in the tea when cold; wrap it around the 
body, and then wrap with the dry blankets as 
quickly as possible, applying a warm brick to the 
feet. The patient can remain in this position one or 
two hours; if perspiring freely one hour will be 



EXAMPLES OF TREATMENT. 219 

sufficient. Remove the wraps and bathe with the 
herb tea cold, working rapidly in drying the body 
with a rough towel; then use friction with the hand 
until the circulation is perfectly free, the skin warm, 
and the patient happy. 

A man who had neuralgia in his lungs, compli- 
cated with heart disease, took baths in the mineral 
spring water at Alpena, Mich., which caused the 
valves of the heart to partially close and his body to 
swell from head to foot. He was nearly suffocated, 
as he could scarcely breathe at all. A quantity of 
smart-weed was boiled in water and thickened with 
wheat bran, making half a bushel when prepared, 
into which two ounces of mustard was stirred when 
it was cool enough to avoid scalding; this 
preparation was spread on a cloth, which covered 
the whole body, and other dry coverings were 
wound around the body like a pack. The patient 
was at first very uneasy. I gave him one teaspoon- 
ful of the tincture of valerian in a little water twice, 
half an hour apart. After the second dose he went^ 
to sleep, and soon was perspiring ireely, which 
relieved him of the trouble. 



MEDICAL AD VICE. 



MEDICAL ADVICE. 



Having learned from personal experience and 
observation that strong medicines, especially minerals, 
taken internally are apt to create new diseases, as 
medicine may, and too often does, lodge in the sys- 
tem, and slowly but surely change the healthy, 
natural blood, with its chemical effect, my advice 
would be to all who suffer from cHmate, colds, chills, 
fevers, diarrhoea, and all that class, which are caused 
by over-eating, or any habit that is injurious to 
health, that it is best and safe to use simple remedies, 
diet, and outside applications; aid nature, and not 
force unnatural conditions by taking into the system 
substances that cannot assimilate with the blood, 
and will eventually develope other forms of disease, 
perhaps incurable. I believe that in every climate 
where disease arises from malaria, remedies grow 
naturally. Roots, herbs, barks, and the waters 
which are tinctured with the magnetism of the earth 
and its productions, are sufficient to heal the physical 
body of its natural ailments when intelligently used; 
and a knowledge of disease and the remedies ought 
to be a part of the education of ever}^ individual. 



RECI PES. 



DRINKS FOR SICK PEOPLE. 

Tea and coffee are narcotic, and it would be best 
to dispense with them. Cocoa is a good substitute^ 
very pleasant and nutritious, and divested of any 
pernicious properties, and better than chocolate or 
prepared cocoa. Take cocoa shells — a teacupful — 
add one quart of milk, and boil a few minutes; when 
it is fit for use sweeten with sugar. 

Milk and buttermilk are both good drinks when 
they agree with the patient. A little water and 
sugar may be added. 

WINE WHEY. 

Put half a pint of new milk on the fire; the 
moment it boils pour in as much good wine as will 
curdle and clarify it; boil and set it aside until the 
curd settles ; do not stir it. Pour the whey off, and 
add to it one pint of boiling water and sufficient loaf 
sugar to sweeten it. Thus you will have a clear, 
rich, pleasant and medicinal liquid, which may be 
drank in all kinds of fevers and nervous debility. 



224 RECIPES. 

BARLEY WATER. 

Take a tablespoonful of ground barley, mix it with 
a little cold water, boil it a few minutes, and sweeten 
if desirable. Very soothing and strengthening. 

BUTTERMILK POP. 

Place one quart of buttermilk on the fire ; stir it 
every moment until it boils; have prepared two table- 
spoonsful of flour wet with the whites of eggs; add a 
little salt; rub the ^^^ in the flour, making tiny balls 
no larger than a shot; stir this in the buttermilk and 
stir, quickly removing it from the fire, and turn it 
into a bowl. This is a healthy, pleasant nourish- 
ment, and especially good in erysipelas and fevers, 

LIQUID FOR DYSPEPSIA. 

Cut one pound of lean beef into small pieces; put 
it into a wide-mouthed bottle or jar; cover tight; add 
a little salt; put it in a kettle of boiling water; let it 
remain one hour; then press it through a woolen 
strainer. There will be about one gill of clear 
liquid. Commence with one teaspoonful, and in- 
crease the quantity as the stomach will bear. This 
will remain on the stomach when nothing else wilL 



RECIPES. 225, 

I have given a very weak lye of hickory ashes in 
cases of sickness of the stomach and diarrhoea; a tea- 
spoonful at first to a tablespoonful, with good results,, 
and in dyspepsia a tender piece of broiled beef, to be 
eaten with dry toasted bread — eaten slowly, chewed 
fine, taking nothing else, and no drink for one hour 
afterward, exciting the flow of saliva, and the gastric 
juices of the stomach act upon the food more 
directly. 

THE DISCOVERY OF THE USE OF RHUBARB PLANT.. 

Some fifteen years ago, I accidently cut my hand 
with glass in the finger-joint; the pain was so great 
that I feared a splinter of glass was broken oft' in the 
muscle, touching the nerve. I suffered all day and 
nearly all night. About three o'clock in the morning, 
to my mental vision appeared this remedy : I saw 
pieplant in the garden, then a cup full of the juice 
on the stand near my bed, a compress wet with it on 
my hand and arm, as my arm had swelled and was 
red with inflammation, and very painful. This vision 
continued until three. Determined to make it a reality, 
I went into the garden, procured the pie plant, and 
soon had a cupful of the juice. Saturated cloths and 
bound it around my arm and hand; wet the com- 
press the second time, and went to sleep. My hand 



226 RECIPES. 

was all right when I waked, after four hours' sleep. 
There w^as a sense of relief in my mind, as well as in 
my hand. I soon saw another person poisoned with 
glass, and advised the same treatment, which had 
the same result. Since then I have used the acid of 
pieplant in a great variety of cases where there was 
fever, inflammation, canker, boils carbuncles, scarlet 
fever, measles, and sore throat, and in every case it 
has seemed to be the remedy. There is no possible 
danger from outside applications, but it is not healthy 
food. 

CARROT OIL. 

Boil four pounds of carrots two hours in as little 
water as will cover them; than smash them in the 
water and press the fluid out through a flannel bag. 
Add two pounds of lard and let it simmer on the 
stove until the fluid has all evaporated. Use for 
rheumatism, inflammation, swellings, etc. 

FOR MUMPS. 

Nothing better than the marrow of a smoked jaw 
bone of a hog, rub it on and kept warm, or a slice 
of fat salt pork. Simple cathartic and light diet is 
all that is necessary. 



RECIPES. 227 



FOR HERNIA. 



Take a round, thin piece of wood, cover it with 
cotton-batting, then with silk oil cloth. Make a com- 
press of linen several thicknesses, wet it with strong 
white oak bark tea, one third brandy, put this next 
to the skin, and the press over it with a bandage to 
hold it in place. The patient should lie perfectly 
still, or nearly so, for three weeks, changing the wet 
compress twice a day. A man of seventy years was 
cured of a bad case this way. 



LUNG SYRUP. 




Comfrey root, - - - 


2 ozs. 


Blackcherry bark, 


2 ozs. 


Golden seal, _ . _ 


2 ozs. 


Blood root, _ _ - 


I oz. 


Lungwort, _ _ _ 


3 ozs. 


Hoarhound, _ - _ 


3 ozs. 


Boneset, _ _ _ 


3 ozs. 



Grind together; put in a large porcelain kettle; 
cover with water; simmer all day down to a gallon of 
tea; strain and add four pounds of honey while hot. 
Dose, teaspoonful once in two hours. 



228 RECIPES. 



COUGH SYRUPS. 



Liquorice root, ... 3 ozs. 
Blood root, . . . . 3^ oz. 

Steep two hours in boiling water ; strain ; having one 
pint of tea. Add i oz. of gum arabic, when dis- 
solved add I lb. of honey, and let it remain on the 
fire fifteen minutes longer. Dose, teaspoonful once 
in one or two hours. 

COI.DS, COUGHS, ETC. . 

Large Bermuda onions sliced thin, placed in a porce- 
lain dish and covered with loaf sugar, over that 
slice garlic and cover with sugar. Let it cook 
slowly — the only fluid being the juice of the onions — 
strain and add ^ oz. of paregoric. Splendid for 
common colds, for children, and for persons of drop- 
sical tendencies. 

AN EXCELLENT REMEDY. 

Break up a large quantity of the loose outside shaggy 
bark of sweet hickory; cover with water and let it 
boil all day; then boil down to one pint of fluid; straio 
and add i lb. of loaf sugar and let it simmer for fif- 
teen minutes. Dose, from a teaspoonful to a table- 



RECIPES. 



22g 



spoonful every hour. It allays irritation and heals 
the lungs. A valuable remedy for colds, coughs, 
and whooping cough. 



NERVOUS DEBILITY 





3 


ozs. 




I 


oz. 




I 


oz. 




2 


oz. 




3 


ozs. 



Nervine root, 
Gentian root, 
Blue Flag root, . 
Seneca snake root, 
Yarrow, 

Grind together. Steep two tablespoonsful, mak- 
ing half a pint of tea, daily. Dose, a wineglass three 
times a day. I prefer the clear tea of the herbs to 
extracts or tinctures. The sugar and liquor destroy 
the natural effect, and create excitement of the nerves. 



ANOTHER TEA. 



Make a strong tea of equal parts of yarrow, mother- 
wort, catnip and pennyroyal. Dose, half a teacupful 
warm at night, for painful menstruation, sleepless- 
ness, or nervousness. Produces quiet sleep. 



230 RECIPES. 



INORDINATE MENSTRUATION. 

Cloves, I OZ. 

Cinnamon, . . . . i oz, 

Peruvian bark, . . . . i oz. 

Raisins, ^ lb. 

Steep two hours; strain; having one pint of tea, to 
which add one pint of port wine. Dose, tablespoon- 
ful three times a day. 



ANOTHER PRESCRIPTION. 

Put 2 ozs. of stick cinnamon in one pint of brandy,, 
allowing it to stand one week before using. Dose, a 
teaspoonful in a little water three or four times a day. 
In cases of hemorrhage, apply a compress wet with 
equal parts of warm vinegar and water over the 
lower bowel, using an enema of tea made from the 
buds of witch hazel. 



AN OLD TIME REMEDY. 

Wrap newly spun yarn, before it is washed, around 
the body. The magnetism of the wool is supposed 
to control the nervous force and contract the blood- 
vessels. In all cases the circulation must receive 



RECIPES. 231^ 



attention. Instead of cold applications to chill the 
blood, rub the body from head to foot with a tea of 
cayenne pepper and whisky until the surface is 
thoroughly warm. This treatment prevents hemor- 
rhage by attracting the blood to the surface of the 
body. 

PILL FOR BRONCHITIS. 

Equal parts of tar, loaf sugar and pulverized skunk 
cabbage root, made into pills the common size- 
Dose, one once in three or four hours. 



WHOOPING COUGH. 

Place bands of smoke-dried buckskin around the 
throat and over the chest. This is an Indian remedy 
which never fails to give relief in connection with a 
tea of the bark and berries of the spice bush. 

MILK LEG SORES. 

This disease is caused by animal and vegetable 
decay in the blood. The milk produced by nature 
for the sustenance of the child is left in the system 
until it loses its specific quality and becomes a poison 
which must be extracted through the pores. A bath 



232 



RECIPES. 



of sour milk will assimilate with the fever and reduce 
its virulence. Fresh toadstools from a manure heap, 
bruised into a paste and applied to the sores night 
and morning, will absorb the disease. Nature pro- 
vides a remedy for every disease which acts through 
affinitive laws. 



FELONS. 

Saturate a compress with a strong tincture of lobelia, 
and wrap the diseased part in it for twenty-four 
hours, then wet the compress with laudanum. This 
treatment has cured every case where it has been 
used in time. 



A STRENGTHENING TEA. 

Take the heart of ironwood, dry, pulverize or cut 
in small pieces and steep in boiling water. Dose, a 
wineglass three times a day. This is an excellent 
remedy to use after fevers, and in all cases of gen- 
eral debility. 

FOR THE KIDNEYS. 

Make a tea of equal parts of milkweed, juniper ber- 
ries, spearmint, and canker lettuce. Dose, half a 
teacupful night and morning. Apply a poultice at 



RECIPES. 



233 



night over the kidneys, made of smartweed, thick- 
ened with slippery elm flour. Another poultice voslY 
be made of equal parts of wild indigo root, skunk 
cabbage root and stillingia ground together, steeped 
in just enough boiling water to cover the herbs; 
thicken with slippery elm flour. This poultice may 
be used for all swellings or inflammations from any 
cause. I. have used it for inflammation of the womb, 
in puerpural fever, fistula, ague cake, and king's 
€vil, with wonderful success, in all cases rubbing the 
body as much as it would bear on removing the 
poultice and before applying another. 

AGUE CAKE, OR SWELLED BREAST. 

Take old tarred rope that has been used in the sun 
cut it up and cover with vinegar; stew until it is a 
thick paste; apply warm. This will scatter the 
swelling at any stage before suppuration. 



HOT DROPS. 




Tincture Jamaica Ginger, . 


2 ozs 


Paregoric, . 


I oz. 


Essence peppermint, . 


. J^oz. 


Essence anise, 


. y^oz. 



iFor pain in the stomach, bowels, wind colic, diar- 
rhoea. Dose, teaspoonf ul from one-half to two hours. 



16 



234 



RECIPES. 



ROOT BEER. 



Sarsaparilla, . . . i lb. 

Sassafras bark, ... 2 lbs. 

Spignet root, ... 2 lbs. 

Prickly ash bark, . . 2 lbs. 

Burdock root, ... 4 lbs. 

Wintergreen leaves, . . 3 lbs. 

Boil for two hours in ten gallons of water; strain. 
Boil one bushel of wheat bran and five pounds of 
Iresh hops together in twenty gallons of water; 
strain. Mix and add water strained out of the bran 
until a barrel full is obtained; add ten pounds of 
sugar and one gallon of brewers' yeast. Keep it 
open in a warm place for ten days, .then bdttle, or 
remove the barrel to a cool place. A pleasant drink, 
and a preventive of chill and fever, malaria, dyspep- 
sia and morbid conditions induced from climate. 



KOUMISS, OR MILK ALE. 



New milk, . . . .3 quarts. 
Warm water, . . . . i quart. 
Sugar, ,, . .,. . .1 tablespoonfuL. 
Dissolve half of a yeast cake and add to the 
warm water, then add the milk and sugar. Let it 



RECIPES. 235 

Stand six hours, bottle in strong bottles with the cork 
securely fastened down. Set in a cool place for five 
or six days, when it will be ready for use. A good 
drink for weak digestion. 



WEAK AND INFLAMED EYES. 

Dissolve I oz. white vitriol in i qt. of rain water. 
Apply with a camel's hair brush inside the lids once 
a day. 

GRANULATED LIDS. 

Glycerine, - - - - i oz. 
Water, - - - - - i oz. 
Lodine, - - - - - 10 drops. 
Apply with a camel's hair brush twice a day. 

WEAK AND INFLAMED EYES. 

Put I lb. of fresh bittersweet root bark in an 
earthen dish, cover with sweet cream and cook 
slowly until only an oil remains. Press the oil from 
the bark and strain through a flannel bag. P^or 
weak eyes anoint the outside of the lids only for 
three mornings in succession, then omit three, then 



336 RECIPES, 

use again for three mornings, continuing the treat- 
ment until a cure is effected. When the eyes are 
inflamed add live drops of spirits of turpentine to r 
oz. of the ointment, and apply as above. 



SIMPLE BATH FOR WEAK EYES. 

One-quarter teaspoonful of common salt and the 
same of loaf sugar, dissolved in a tea cup of 
warm water. Bathe freely three or four times a day. 



CATARRH SNUFF. 

Gum arabic, - - - i oz. 

Blood root, - - - - 54^ oz. 

Gum myrrh, - - - - J^ oz. 

Borax, - - - - - i oz. 

Pulverize and use night and morning. Bathe 

the head with warm salt water, using through 

friction. 

/ 
Another snuff is made of 

White pond lily root, - - i oz. 
High laurel root, - - 



RECIPES. 237 

ANOTHER REMEDY FOR CATARRH. 

Dry sage two parts, one part black pepper, mix 
thoroughly and smoke in a new clay pipe. Draw 
the smoke into the mouth and expel it through the 
nose. Put the stem of the pipe in the ear, cover the 
bowl with a thin cloth, and blow the smoke into the 
ear as warm as the patient can bear it. It will pene- 
trate the passages through the nose and ear, healing 
and stimulating. It should be used twice a day, 
with thorough friction of the head, with a strong, 
firm pressure by the hand. 



REMEDY FOR BURNS OR SCALDS. 

Apply a thick paste of bicarbonate of soda, cov- 
ering the burn with a linen or cotton cloth to exclude 
the air. This is a sovereign remedy. 



KIDNEYS. 

Common silk milk weed. The root of this plant 
is a powerful diuretic. Boil 8 ozs. of the root in six 
quarts of water to three; strain, add i oz. spirits of 
juniper berries. For the dropsy take one gill four 
times a day sweetened with honey. 



238 RECIPES. 



I 


OZ. 


I 


oz. 


2 


OZ. 


I 


oz. 


% 


oz. 


% 


oz. 



RESTORATIVE WINE BITTERS. 

Comfrey root, - - - 

Solomon's seal, 

Nervine root, - - - 

Gentian root, _ _ - 

Camomile flowers, - 

Spikenard root, 
Bruise all together, cover with boiling water, let 
it simmer four hours, strain and add four quarts of 
elderberry wine. This is a very useful tonic in all 
cases of debility, particularly those peculiar to 
females. It is valuable in incipient consumption. 

Rose willow bark, a tea, is good for nervous 
irritation of the stomach arising from pregnancy or 
diseased uterus. Take a wine glass half full three 
times a day before meals. 



STRENGTHENING PLASTER. 

Olive oil, - - - - 3 qts. 

Common resin, - - - 3 ozs. 

Beeswax, - - - - 3 ozs. 
Melt together and bring to boiling heat. Add 
gradually pulverized red lead 2]/^ lbs. if it be winter; 
if summer, 2^ lbs. A short time after the lead is 



RECIPES. 239 

taken up by the oil and the mixture becomes brown 
remove from the fire, and when nearly cooladd i oz. 
pulverized camphor gum, i oz. oil of wormwood, 
I oz. amber, j{ oz. cayenne pepper. It should be 
kept on the fire until it is of sufficient consistency to 
spread well, which may be known by dipping a 
knife in from time to time and allowing it to cool on 
the knife. Stir thoroughly until it can be worked 
into rolls, or balls, with the hands. Wrap in oiled 
paper to keep moist until used. 

I have used this plaster for sprain s with wonder- 
ful success, binding it firmly around the joint. It 
gives almost instant relief, absorbs the broken blood 
corpuscles, and strengthens and heals the injured 
h'gaments. For w^eak back, palpitation of the heart, 
female weakness, rheumatism, or for pain from any 
cause, it affords safe and sure relief. Spread it on 
chamois skin quite thick. Make the plaster large 
enough to cover the seat of the disease and renew it 
as often as once a week. Before putting on a fresh 
plaster rub the surface thoroughly with stimulating 
liniment. 



24© RECIPES. 



OINTMENTS. 



ITCH OINTMENT. 

Fine sulphur, - - - i oz. 
Unslacked lime, - - - i oz. 
Lard, ----- i oz. 
Mix thoroughly and rub it into the skin before 
the fire. A sure cure. 



GOLDEN OINTMENT. 

Lard, - - - - - i lb. 
Beeswax, - - - - 4 ozs. 
Melt together, and when nearly cool add : 
Laudanum, - - - i oz. 

Camphor gum, - - - i oz. 

Oil of organum, - - 2 ozs. 

Put the last three ingredients into 4 ozs. of 
alcohol, and stir the mixture into the lard and bees- 
wax. Stir until cool. 

This ointment is good for burns, piles, cuts, 
bruises, sore throat, congestion of the lungs or 
bowels. It is a family remedy to be relied on. 



RECIPES. 241 



POKE ROOT OINTMENT. 

Boil 2 lbs. of lard in weak lye. When cold 
remove the lard from the lye. Boil 2 lbs. of fresh 
poke root in water enough to cover it for one hour;, 
strain and let it simmer down to an extract. To the 
melted lard add the poke root and oil of organum 2 
ozs., oil of amber i oz. Stir thoroughly. 

Good for scrofulous scores, rheumatism, and all 
kinds of blood diseases. It should be thoroughly 
rubbed into the skin and all that it will not absorb 
at the time, wiped off. Rubbing the bowels thor- 
oughly every night with this ointment will cure con- 
stipation. 

LIVER TONIC. 

Tincture of golden seal, - - 2 ozs. 

Tincture black cherry, - - 2 ozs. 

Tincture hops, - - - 2 ozs. 

Brandy, - _ _ - 6 ozs. 

Dose, from a teaspoonful to a tablespoonfui in a 
little water before meals. This is a valuable remedy 
for torpid liver and indigestion. 



•242 RECIPES. 



ELDER BLOSSOM OINTMENT. 

Cover the blossoms with sweet cream; let it 
simmer to an oil and strain through flannel. This oint- 
ment is exceedingly valuable for use with young 
children, for sore nipples, old sores, and salt rheum. 
Apply with gentle friction twice a day. 



PLANTAIN OINTMENT. 

Cook common door yard plantain leaves in as 
little water as will cover them, removing the leaves 
and putting in fresh ones until there is a strong 
extract. Strain, and to one pint of the liquid add 2 
lbs. of lard; simmer slowly until the water evapor- 
ates. For old sores, kings' evils scrofula, etc. 



A MEDICATED BATH WITH ELECTRICITY. 

Take a quantity of herbs, such as catnip, boneset, 
'hops, pennyroyal, spearmint, tanzy, etc. Boil in a 
gallon or two of water for half an hour; pour all into 
a pail with a narrow piece of board over it for the 
patient to sit on; wrap him completely to prevent the 
escape of the vapor, immerse the feet in warm water, 



RECIPES. 243 



in which place one pole of an electric batter}^; cover 
the other pole with a wet sponge and rub over the 
lentire body under the covering. The patient should 
drink freely of warm catnip tea. Bathe quickly 
afterward with equal parts of warm water and 
extract of witch hazel. Walk about in a moder- 
ately warm room until the blood is naturally cool. 
This treatment will aid the system to throw off dis- 
■ease through the pores of the skin. 

FOR PRESERVING THE HAIR. 

Wash the head twice a week with a strong 
solution of salt, and sprinkle a small quantity of dry, 
fine salt upon the top of the head once a week. 
This will prevent baldness and preserve the color of 
the hair. 

CANKER IN THE STOMACH AND BLOOD. 

Make a tea of equal parts of golden seal root, 
tag alder bark, white pond lily root and running black- 
berry root ground together. Steep two tablespoons- 
ful every day, making one-half pint of tea. Dose, a 
wine glass three or four times a day. Wet a com- 
press in pieplant juice or some beer yeast and apply 
over the stomach at jiight. i 



244 RECIPES. 



SOUR STOMACH. 



Dissolve in a wine glass of water one-fourth of a 
teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda and the same 
quantity of fine salt. Take at a single dose. 



FOR THE SAME. 



A teaspoonful of fine pulverized charcoal mixed 
with syrup. Take before breakfast. 



BILIOUS OR SICK HEADACHE. 

Take first an emetic of one-half teaspoonful of salt 
and one-half teaspoonful of mustard in a glass of 
warm water. This will free the stomach of bile and 
phlegm. Bathe the spine in warm water, one quart, 
in which is mingled a tablespoonful of salt and the same 
of the spirits of ammonia. Use with thorough friction^ 
rubbing down from the base of the brain. It will give 
immediate relief. Afterward take liver tonic until the 
liver is free from bile, and conclude with a raw egg- 
in the morning half an hour before breakfast. This 
will take up the acid and strengthen the stomach. 



RECIPES, 345 



FOR CONSTIPATION. 

Steep 2 ozs. of senna one hour in water enough to 
have a pint of the tea, strain, and stew in the liquid 
as many prunes as it will cover until they are very 
soft. Dose, one tablespoonful half an hour before 
breakfast. 



LIVER POWDER. 

Mandrake root, - - 2 grains. 

Leptandrum, - - - i grain. 

Aloes, - - - - ^ grain. 

Cayenne pepper, - - Y^ grain. 
Mix and take at one dose. Immediately after 
take one teaspoonful cream of tartar. This is an 
active remedy for torpid liver. Thorough friction 
with stimulating liniments should be used over the 
stomach and liver before and after taking this medi- 
cine. Two of these powders are sufficient to rouse 
thorough action of the liver, and should be followed 
by a tonic. Take equal parts of golden seal, black 
cherry bark and juniper berries, steep a tablespoon- 
ful, making half a pint of tea. Dose, a wine glass 
before eating. 



246 RECIPES. 



HOP BITTERS. 

Hops, - - _ - ^ OZS. 

Buchu, - - - _ 2 OZS. 

Water, _ - - - 2 qts. 
Let it simmer half a day, strain, add 2 lbs. of 
sugar, keep it hot half an hour, and add: 

Tincture dandelion, - - 2 ozs. 

Tincture mandrake root, - 2 ozs. 

Alcohol, - - - - I pt. 

Water, - - - - 2 qts. 

Dose, from a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful twice 
a day. This is good for persons of bilious tempera- 
ment, for constipation, sick headache, and diseases of 
the liver and kidneys. 

NEUTRALIZING CORDIAL OR PHYSIC. 

Equal parts of turkey rhubarb, saleratus, and 
peppermint plant, pulverized fine. To a large tea- 
spoonful add half a pint of boiling water. When 
cool, strain and add one tablespoonful of brandy. 
Dose, one or two tablespoonsful every half hour. 
This is one of the most valuable remedies for cholera 



RECIPES. 247 



morbus or summer complaint, and is excellent to 
allay the sickness and regulate the bowels of 
pregnant women. 



DYSENTERY. 

Give freely of a tea of red raspberry lea v^es. Put 
a compress wet in pieplant juice or some beer yeast 
about the body. This will absorb the fever and 
remove the cause of irritation, while the tea will heal 
the stomach and bowels inwardly. These simple 
remedies have proved successful with young, 
children after all others have failed. In all cases the 
outward applications are of greatest value. 



FOR GRAVEL. 

Make a strong tea of canker lettuce, sometimes 
called squaw lettuce, found where wintergreen 
grows. It is an excellent remedy for all diseases of 
the bladder. 

Charcoal, made of red willow, is a safe, cheap 
remedy, used for dyspepsia and sour stomach. It 
purifies the breath. 



348 RECIPES. 



IODIDE POTASSIUM AND SOAP LINIMENT. 

Take of hard castile soap, cut small, and iodide of 
potassium, of each one ounce and a half, oil of lemon 
one fluid ounce, distilled water ten ounces. Dissolve 
the soap in seven ounces of water by the heat of a 
water bath; dissolve the iodide of potassium and one 
ounce of glycerine in the remainder of the water, and 
mix the two solutions together. When the mixture 
is cold add the oil of lemon and mix the whole 
thoroughly. 

This preparation has been used for goitre, swell- 
ings, tumor, skin diseases, with great benefit; 
it cleanses and purifies the pores, is also excellent in 
dressing burns; should be used with gentle friction. 



WILD CARROT. 

For gravel, make a strong tea of the seeds and 
roots and drink freely through the day. This has 
relieved gravel in many cases and cured the disease. 



RECIPES. 249 



SUNDRY REMEDIES. 



Dr. Kellogg's worm tea is the safest and best 
remedy for worms in children. I have given it in 
many cases with good results, and found it a reliable 
remedy. 

For constipation a very good remedy consists of 
a glass of hot water. Put one-half a teaspoonful of 
«alt; drink it a little at a time, but all in the course of 
iive minutes. Take every morning. 

Part of a large Bermuda onion eaten raw, with a 
little bread or cracker, at midnight, will aid sleep and 
strengthen the stomach. 



17 



HOW TO WEAR THE SOUL'S GARMENT. 251 



p0xa to Wimv thz M>ouVb Olarment. 



Go now ! and with some darling drug 

Bait thy disease; and while they tug, 

Thou, to maintain their precious strife, 

Spend the dear treasures of thy life. 

Go! take physic, dote upon 

Some big-named composition. 

The oraculous doctor's mystic pills; 

And what at last shalt gain by these? 

Only a costlier disease. 

That which makes us have no need 

Of physic, t/ial^s physic indeed. 

Hark hither, reader! Wilt thou see 

Nature her own physician be? 

Wilt see a man all his own wealth; 

His own music, his own health ; 

A man whose sober soul can tell 

How to wear her garments well, — 

Her garments that upon her sit 

As garments should do, close and fit; 

A well-clothed soul that's not oppressed, 

Nor choked with what she should be dressed ; 

A soul sheathed in a crystal shrine; 



252 HOW TO WEAR THE SOUES GARMENT. 



Through which all her bright features shine ; 

As when a piece of wanton lawn, 

A thin aerial veil is drawn 

O'er beauty's face, seeming to hide. 

More sweetly shows the blushing bride; 

A soul whose intellectual beams 

No mists can mask, no lazy streams ; 

A happy soul that all the way 

To heaven hath a summer's day. 

Wouldst see a man whose well-warmed blood 

Bathes him in a genuine flood? 

A man whose tuned humors be 

A seat of rarest harmony? 

"Wouldst see blithe looks, fresh cheeks, beguile. 

Aye! Wouldst see December smile? 

Wouldst see nests of new roses grow 

In a bed of reverend snow? 

Warm thoughts, free spirits, flattering 

Winter's self all into spring? 

In turn, wouldst see a man that can 

Live to be old, and still a man? 

Whose latest and whose leaden hours 



HOW TO WEAR THE SOUL'S GARMENT. 253 



Fall with soft wings stuck with flowers. 

And when life's sweet fable ends, 

Soul and body part like friends ; 

No quarrels, murmurs, no delay, 

A kiss, a sigh, and so away? 

This rare one, reader, wouldst thou see. 

Hark, hither! and thyself be he. 

Richard Crashaw, England, lyih Century. 



FOR WOMEN. 



So much has been said in the cause of humanity in 
general, that I feel like adding a word for woman in 
particular, and her natural position in the world. 
Nature has pointed out in unmistakable signs 
woman's work and office. Still there remains much 
to be done for her before that work can be well done- 
Through woman the generations are to be made 
better or worse. Man and woman in married life are 
said to be one, one in interest, equal in all things that 
pertain to the comfort and welfare of the children 
and home. If this is not true it ought to be, and 
must be if happiness, respect, and a mutual love and 
confidence can be reasonably hoped for. It is right 
and proper that man should manage his own business 
affairs, but it is not justice to his wife to keep her in 
ignorance of his true position, either for good or ill. 
A natural pride that is not born of good sense or 
mistaken kindness often leads the husband into this 
error, while his wife and family go on in blissful 
ignorance, knowing nothing, fearing nothing. Then 
when the failure comes, as it often does, there is deso- 



256 FOR WOMEN. 



lation and despair, no preparation, no adaptation to 
the changed condition. How much might often be 
averted if a perfect understanding of business pros- 
pects had been fairly understood. It is not an un- 
common occurence that a man has been considered 
rich in worldly goods by his family, and when death 
comes for them to be left helpless and without know- 
ledge how or with means to live. Woman's sym- 
pathies, love and intuitive sense would often aid and 
encourage her husband in his difficulties, if he 
would trust her. Woman's natural perceptions are 
finer than man's ; she is more forgiving of faults, more 
tireless in performing the duties of life, and the sunlight 
of her world is in being appreciated by the one she 
has chosen to live with for better or for worse. Her 
thoughts and pleasures may all be confined within 
the home circle, if love remains with her manifested 
by little deeds of kindness, a look, a smile of appre- 
ciation, a notice of her efforts to please. O, how duU^ 
how worthless the life of woman, without that which 
feeds the soul and gives courage and strength to 
endure the trials with patience that come to woman's 
life alone! And in the absence of this most potent 
power of manifested love and confidence, how easily 
she may drift apart, how many temptations appear 
in the way while the heart is heavy with loneliness 
and sorrow. Some individuals seem born to evil^ 



FOR WOMEN. 257 



but many drift upon the reefs and rocks of human 
frailty without an anchor of love or hope to guide 
their way. I was talking with a woman thus driven 
by adverse circumstances into following a niyth, 
hoping to find peace, and drowning her sense of 
feeling with intoxicating drinks. In remonstrating 
with her on her course, " Oh," she exclaimed in 
accents of despair, "nobody cares for me!" That is- 
the secret. She had no anchor of love to save her 
from drifting towards the rapids and on to her own 
destruction. 

God is love; the loadstone which attracts its affi- 
nities, and marriage should be based upon this foun- 
dation. Mutual love and respect and honor should 
be cultivated through life. Then will be removed the 
great cause of complaint, which has brought an 
army of women into the field with a determination 
and courage to perserve in their cause, the abo- 
lition of the slavery of woman, a bondage hateful 
and degrading, to her especially who has not 
the kind good will of her natural protector, and 
feels her rights trampled upon, herself ignored, and 
yet called upon to fill the highest position within 
this material world — the mother of mankind. The 
responsibility of what the generations to come are 
to be, does not rest entirely upon her. Education 
is useless if not practical, and all interest will die 



258 FOR WOMEN. 

out where no work is to be done. Woman 
should have a right to speak and act under all cir- 
cumstances where her own individual happiness is 
concerned, and that of her children; her vote, where 
laws of education and temperance are concerned, 
would make a vast difference in favor of justice, 
morality and peace. But men seem to be afraid 
of this invasion of what they consider their province, 
the natural protectors of woman and her interest. 
Well, if they only would protect her, and not 
generally constitute themselves her oppressor and 
destroyer, their position would be based upon 
some show of reason. Woman can elevate or 
degrade human character, and in order to secure the 
higher and more intellectual elevation for man, 
according to the natural law of nature, man has organi- 
zation and natural talents according to the circum- 
stances and condition of his mother. If for no other 
reason than man's individual benefit, woman ought 
to have free access to all resources which may elevate 
her intellectual and moral character, and a realizing 
sense of her true position in the world, as one on 
whom the rise or fall of nations depends. In the 
present system of education for girls, there is not a 
very marked difference between the object of being 
•educated, graceful and beautiful, and the Turkish 
woman, who fits herself for the pleasure of her master 



FOR WOMEN 



259 



and owner, except to share more fully his possessions. 
Not a very high ambition, when we consider the 
latent energies that lie dormant or are diverted into 
other channels neither useful or wise. 

What is going to be done is the momentous 
question. Women cannot force their claims with 
the sword, and may be obliged to worry the life 
out of men, and make their homes as wretched 
as their present condition does some of the women. 



g^jespject for 'S^omatx, %t^XB |pan. 



^'So much as one holds woman in esteem, 
Purely or basely, as he deals with love, 
So much is his regard for honor, or 
So little, such the honor he receives ! 
Who not himself YQS^e.cis, honors not woman, 
Who does not honor woman, knows he love? 
Who knows not love can he know honor then? 
Who knows not honor, what has he beside ? " 

L. SCHEFER. 



LIFE RENEWED. 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE SPIRIT FROM THE TOMB 
OF THE BODY, AND ERRORS OF THIS WORLD. 



THE TRUE BIRTH OF THE IMMORTAL SPIRIT. 

However plain they look in earth life they shall 
still be themselves, and yet their faces shall be radiant 
with the soul's immortal beauty in the resurrection. 
The great artist has the skill to make a homely face 
beautiful in a picture, and every one who knows the 
original will say that it is a perfect likeness. And 
so the faces that we last saw on earth, wrinkled with 
age or wasted with suffering and void of all grace 
and comeliness, will be the same in the immortal 
world, but clothed with angelic beauty. The infant of 
a few days,whose smiles of joy or cries of pain lingered 
in the mother's memory for years after the grave 
had closed over the beloved form, shall come to the 
parents amid the glory of heaven with such a look 
that they shall no more say: "We have lost a child." 
The aged mother, who died with her children around 



262 LIFE RENEWED. 



her to receive her parting blessing shall appear the 
same, and yet with the glorified form made surpass- 
ingly beautiful by the expressions of the pure spirit. 
Think of heaven as a home — a home for human and 
loving, grateful hearts; think of waking up beyond 
the grave and finding yourself in full possession of 
such a life, with all the horror and fear of death be- 
hind, and nothing but thankful, blessed relief that 
death was the only door to a glorious life. 

The first word that Jesus spoke after his resur- 
rection was one of cheer: "Why weepest thou? 
Whom seekest thou?" Many spend their natural 
life seeking what they never find. The journey of 
life begins and ends with tears. Its whole course is 
a search for something that can call forth fountains 
of gladness and consolation in the waste places of 
the soul. What is it to a man's immortal self to en- 
joy the highest health and success for a few years 
and die the owner of millions of this vv^orld's 
wealth, and then go mto the other world 
to be poor and wretched and in want 
of one good deed done on earth to brighten 
the Hfe he must pass through? The memory of the 
deeds done in the body either brightens or darkens the 
heaven we earn. And how rich and happy is he 
who lives a few years in pain and sorrow; suffers 
disappointment and neglect, and then, when death 



LIFE RENEWED. 263 



opens the door, with all of his immortal powers 
bursts into a new and glorious life with the certain 
prospect of endless content with all the pain and sor- 
row left behind forever. Riches and poverty, sick- 
ness and health, prosperity and adversity, are trifles 
not worthy to be named in comparison with the 
soul's eternal salvation, when we shall have 
come up through trials and tribulation into 
the perfect world. In this world, there is no 
perfect enjoyment of anything, and the hap- 
piest hour is the quickest to fly. This earth 
has fitl}^ been characterized as a pilgrimage through 
a vale of tears. In the language of poetry, man him- 
self has been called a pendulum betwixt a smile and 
a tear. We need but little perception to see, and 
little sensibility to feel, that this world is one con- 
tinued struggle. It wrings from every heart the cry 
of woe, and in every earthly dwelling there is some- 
body to suffer pain. In every human family there is 
some face over which the pale shadow of sickness 
has passed. Every human being in this world is 
characterized by imperfection. The best people 
have many faults; the purest heart has its sorrow. 
All the intercourse of society, all the transactions of 
business, all our estimates of human conduct and 
motive must be based upon the sad assumption that 
we cannot wholly trust either ourselves or our fellow^ 



264 LIFE RENEWED. 



men. Every heart has its grief, every house its 
skeleton, every character is marred with weakness 
and imperfection, and all this helps us to understand 
how much there is to be accomplished in the higher 
life before a peaceful organization is attained. How 
necessary to understand something of the meaning 
of this, that we may apply ourselves consistently to 
the cultivation of the best gifts — those which accom- 
pany us in our journey beyond the grave. As yet 
the most cultivated mind is one which, by much 
meditation and painful study, has attained the deep- 
est knowledge of its own ignorance. It is still the 
discipline which an all-wise Providence imposes on 
us all, that we shall work out our own salvation, and 
by steady, constant endeavors grow into the knowl- 
edge of truth. Should not the gloom through which 
we must now pass keep alive in our hearts a more 
intense longing for the home where there will be no 
more ignorance or uncertainty, and where the per- 
fection of our immortal being is to be made capable 
of understanding the natural laws of our existence, 
resurrected from the dead body of materialism — 
from ignorance, superstition, and willful disobedience 
to that inner voice that whispers it warnings through 
the spiritual sense, reaching dimly the natural ear 
like an echo far off? To them the veil of mental 
darkness shuts out and silences the voices of angels, 



LIFE RENEWED. 265 



the guardians of their night. It is like the pitiless 
door of the prison house, and the stone walls of the 
dungeon. And should we not think of those things 
and long for the dawn of that morning when this 
great mystery, this thick cloud of darkness, shall 
pass away and there shall be no more doubts — 
when the redeemed soul shall be born out of the 
decaying body of a material world; no more death, 
no more mysteries beyond, but the light of truth 
forever shining — a journey we all must take, and 
with us all that we have gleaned from earthly life 
that belongs to the spirit ? Is it well with us? Have 
we laid up treasures pure and perfect, or mixed with 
the dross, and in our mistaken views gathered the 
tares? Conscience echoes both. What have we given 
to our children, the treasure of our Hfe, the only 
earthly claim that follows on to our eternal home — 
either one of rest and peace, or one of sorrow and 
deep regret over a misspent Hfe? Duties neglected 
are yet to be fulfilled ; there is still anxious work to 
be done. How blessed the life that can watch and 
wait for the coming to that shore where death can 
not follow the loved ones of earth, and be able to say 
well done; enter now into a haven of peace and rest, 
for thy work is finished on earth. Why not now 
prepare for that rest by doing unto thy neighbor 

what the still small voice prompts us to do, and grow 

18 



266 LIFE RENEWED. 



out of the darkness into the light, that our new birth 
may bring us up to a happy home — resurrect our own 
spirit, and move away from the temptations of a 
dying world and live on a higher plane, where God 
and the angels dwell on earth as well as in heaven, 
with peace and good will to all ? 

"The source of all the discord that we feel. 

Is that of will. 
Is not made one with God's, and so we strive 

To make life still 
A thing that we call good — a little good 

That we can know ; 
Instead of in our ignorance content 

God's way to go." 



PRAYER 



How Prayer May be Answered. 



" Thou must be true thyself, 

If thou the truth wouldst teach; 
Thy soul must overflow, if thou 

Another soul would reach. 
It needs the overflowing heart 

To give the lips full speech. 
Speak truly, and thy word 

Shall be a fruitful seed ; 
Live truly, and thy life shall be 

A great and noble creed. " 

Charles W. Wendte. 

The spirit of man is weak; it is unable to hold its 
natural supremacy, and inspire the soul with courage 
and confidence. It is like one lost in doubt and fear, 
wandering in the wilderness of imaginar}^ evils, 
oppressed; hungry for something unattainable, yet, 
through prayer to the Infinite Father, hoping for the 
blessings that are craved. Prayer inspires the 
spiritual organization, the whole force of desire being 
directed through the emotional sense to the spirit 
brain, and that inspiration lifting the burden up into 
the spirit realms and opening the way to God's 



268 PRA YER. 



messengers of love, our spirit friends, who respond 
to the true heartfelt prayers, bringing magnetic 
power, giving strength, courage and light to the 
despairing ones of earth, whose appeal had reached 
the sympathies of kind spirit friends. The spirit 
brain becomes active and the soul rejoices in its free- 
dom from earthly bondage, being inspired with hope 
in a higher presence. Mere words are not prayer, 
but the soul's most earnest emotions, the deep, 
silent soul's desire, that can truly say, " not my will, 
but Thine be done ; " an inward spirit communing 
with the spirit of the universe, embodied in many 
forms, and in some whose natural relationship draws 
them near to us in the Divinest sense, sympathises 
with our sorrow, adding their strength of will with 
their reviving influences, inspiring hope and confi- 
dence—this is prayer. Words are simply nothing. 
Without the supervention of immediate help or 
other magnetic influence there cannot be a natural 
inspiration of true prayer, and wordy prayers only 
dull the senses into a monotonous endeavor to please, 
or a habit of fashion, where an answer could only be 
found in the imagination. I like the simple child's 
prayer, whose confidence is perfect. Even though it 
needeth not to pray to the Great Spirit, which 
it cannot understand, it sends currents of magnetic 
will towards the spirit brain, aiding in its develop- 



PRA YER. 269 



ment, and, as the strength of intellectual perception 
increases and reason rules, the blissful memories of 
childhood and youth, before a knowledge of the evil 
in the world was acquired, is like a talisman, to lead, 
and guard, and bless its journey through life. 
Made prayers are delusions that fall unheard. 

What do I believe? I believe that all mankind 
are the children of God and nature ; that discord is 
the cause of all unhappiness; that harmony is 
heaven; that there is no death to the soul and spirit; 
that sins are not forgotten, but outgrown through 
repentance and a righteous life. 

"In this misjudging world they picture Death 
A fearful tyrant. Oh, believe them not! 
He is an angel beautiful as light, 
That watches o'er the sorrowing spirit here. 
And when its earthly pilgrimage is done, 
Unbars the gates of everlasting bliss. 
And vanishes forever." 



Isaiah iv. " My thoughts are not as your thoughts; 
as the heavens are high above the earth, so are my thoughts above your 
thoughts." 

God's thoughts are not as man's, alas! 

Far wide apart are the}^ ; 
The one controls a universe, 

The other molds its clay. 

Man wanders weary on a staff, 

A pilgrim in the night; 
God shakes the star dust from his feet 

To give that pilgrim light. 

Science, to climb the misty height. 

To make truth understood. 
Must lay her hand in nature's hand, 

Must give her thoughts to God. 

'Tis said, that she, in soaring off, 

Awa}^ through distance dim, 
The nearer that she gets to truth 

The further gets from him. 

If God be truth, and everywhere, 

In every wind that blows. 
The more that science knows of truth. 

The more of God she knows. 

Aye, she has yet one truth to learn 

Before her march is done; 
She cannot hope to light her torch. 

Save at the central sun. 



Great forces moving round the earth, 

By His omniscient will, 
Have met upon a daisy's breast 

A dew-drop to distill. 

Creation's mechanism stirred 

By great Creation's Chief, 
To spread a banquet for a bird. 

To mold a maple leaf. 

Nature lights her hottest fires. 

Distills her summer rain 
To resurrect a buried seed — 

To make a spear of grain. 

The blades of grass, the fluttering leaves, 

Are chemists every one, 
Whose laboratory is the earth, 

Whose furnace is the sun. 

And man, with his affinities 

And fires seven times hot, 
Scarce does the work on summer breeze 

By nature's chemist wrought. 

Subject to nature's alchemy 
Are wind, and dust, and dew. 

Transformed to fruits of sweetest tastes — 
To flowers of fairest hue. 

The unseen artists in the air 
Haved striped the tulip's cup. 

And built the alabaster walls 
That hold the lily up. 



Rose tree, from out the sodden ground, 
Say, wherefore were you brought? 

"God thought of beauty; I am one 
Evolvement of that thought." 

Sweet violet, how came you to dwell 

In such a scented bed? 
" God thought of odor; so he poured 

His oils upon my head." 

Alpines, whence came your lofty peaks. 
Wrapped up in snowy shrouds? 

'' God thought of majesty, and raised 
Our heads above the clouds." 

And thus we read, in earth and air, 

In sun, and stars, and flowers, 
As heaven is higher than the earth. 

So are God's thoughts than ours. 

Lizzie York Case. 



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